


time spent dreaming is never wasted.

by porcelainsimplicity



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, F/M, New York, New York City
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-18 06:40:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14207331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/porcelainsimplicity/pseuds/porcelainsimplicity
Summary: A sleek black sedan pulled to a stop in front of Shield Bar & Grille, and before the chauffeur could get around to open the door, Tony Stark had opened the door for himself, climbed out of the car, and was standing there staring at the building with a huge smile on his face. Shield Bar & Grille was his baby, everyone knew it, and he didn't care who saw him preening over it.or: Bruce loves Natasha but can't be with her, Tony adopts the Twins, Fitz and Simmons fool everyone, Steve takes forever to ask Peggy out, Bobbi is tortured by Hunter working with her, Daisy's ex is making her uncomfortable, Thor leads the gang of weirdos, and Melinda May is the most serious person in the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> attempt at writing this story #44676546546876387, or at least that's what it feels like.
> 
> hello awesome nerds! i have literally been sick since january 2017 in one way or another, and every time i seem to be getting better, something knocks me back down (this time it's mononucleosis at the age of 35. it's not just a teenager's kissing disease, folks.) and i struggle to get anything done. i have some longstanding fics that need to be finished, but i have some half-written ones like this one that are begging to be finished, and today i feel like starting over with this one. so, here's the deal. this will update every other week (and i've already got nineteen chapters written, so it'll definitely be updated for a certain stretch of time) and if i need to put it on hiatus because of my health, i will. but in the meantime, this will have a cast of thousands (i'm only joking a bit) from all over the MCU in it and probably take thousands upon thousands of words to get out of my head. so, basically, if you like it, please let me know via kudos or comment. i know that a lot of people ask you to do that for your stories, but for me those things really mean a lot right now, so if you could just take the time to let me know that you read it and liked it in some way, i would appreciate it.
> 
> and with that long-winded note out of the way, onto the story.

**5:45am – Monday**

A sleek black sedan pulled to a stop in front of Shield Bar & Grille, and before the chauffeur could get around to open the door, Tony Stark had opened the door for himself, climbed out of the car, and was standing there staring at the building with a huge smile on his face. Shield Bar & Grille was his baby, everyone knew it, and he didn't care who saw him preening over it.

Jarvis, his long-suffering assistant, climbed out of the car and began walking over to Tony, but Tony began talking before he got there. "Vision, tell me, do you like the sign? I'm thinking we need a new sign."

"Sir, how many times must I remind you that my name is Jarvis and not Vision?" he asked. "And you already replaced the sign last month."

"You are the picture perfect vision of an assistant, so, therefore, you are Vision," Tony said automatically, looking over at him. "You know I give everyone nicknames. And I don't care that we replaced it last month. I want a new sign."

Jarvis sighed and reached for his StarkPad, adding a new sign to a list that he knew was only going to grow as they headed inside. "I'll have design proposals for you by Wednesday."

"Make it tomorrow," Tony said, walking towards the door. "Let's go rally the troops before the doors open."

Jarvis just sighed and followed him into the restaurant. He hated his nickname of Vision and he had been reminding Mr. Stark of his real name for years now, but he was finally beginning to be resigned to the fact that his boss was never going to use it. The peculiarities of Anthony Stark were wide and well known by the entire world – the man had proclaimed himself to be a "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" at a press conference announcing the building of a new technology hub in Chicago after all – but they still took some getting used to even after all the time Jarvis had spent with him.

Tony walked into the part of the restaurant that was open during the day and clapped his hands together. "Alright, everyone by the coffee bar!"

A group of adults and a couple of kind-of-awake teenagers gathered around and Tony smiled widely. "Good morning, agents! Are we all ready to go?"

"We are, Mr. Stark," came the voice of Maria Hill, the restaurant's daytime manager. "Everyone has been assigned their tasks for the day, though some are not particularly happy with theirs."

"I cannot run the espresso machine," one of the not-really-awake teenagers said. "So I don't know why I am always put on coffee duty."

"Pietro, Pietro," Tony said, walking over to the boy and messing up his white-blond hair. "Maximoff, I call you Quicksilver for a reason, buddy, and that's because you are so fast when given a task like coffee duty. Now tell me what's wrong with the espresso machine."

"I have to hit the button to make the espresso come out so hard that I nearly knock the machine over backward," Pietro said. "It does not work right."

"To be fair, the button is quite difficult to deal with whenever I make myself coffee during my break," said the brown-haired girl next to Pietro.

"Wanda, why haven't you two said something sooner?" Tony asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and turning them towards Jarvis. "Vision!"

"My name is Jarvis. And a new espresso machine has been added to the list, sir."

"You know," Tony said to Wanda, "I think he doesn't like his nickname. By the way, where's the scarlet, Scarlet Witch?"

"I do not wear scarlet every day," Wanda said seriously. "Pietro said I must incorporate other colors into my wardrobe."

"Is that so?" Tony said, looking over at Pietro. "Quicksilver, she can't be Scarlet Witch if she's not in scarlet. So lay off the diversity trick and let her dress in all her pretty scarlet dresses and skirts. Besides, Rhodey always says Wanda's in a better mood when she's dressed in scarlet."

"Speaking of Colonel Rhodes," came Maria's voice. "The supplier we have been using for his favorite coconut milk has gone out of business, and I've been having trouble finding a new one."

"Vision!"

"Adding it to the list. We should have a new one for you by the end of the week, Maria."

"Agent Hill!" Tony called out.

"Agent Hill," Jarvis corrected.

Tony walked away from Wanda and looked around the group once more. "Now, if anyone needs diversity in their wardrobe, it's Agent May. Why always the black, Melinda? Or is that just to make you look tougher when security is needed?"

"Call me Melinda again and I will quit," she said. "You're lucky enough that I tolerate you calling me Agent May."

Tony just shook his head. "I don't know how anyone can be so serious at six a.m. but you certainly are, Agent May. Alright, new espresso machine, coconut milk supplier, Scarlet Witch in scarlet, Agent May in black, and a brand new sign out front. Am I missing anything, Vision?"

"There is a note here that you need to speak to Agent Hill about the short order cook situation."

"Right!" Tony exclaimed, walking towards Maria. "Let's go back to the office for that, alright? Everyone else, get to work!"

Everyone scattered to their positions except for Wanda, who shyly approached Jarvis. "It is lovely to see you again, Vision."

"You may call me Jarvis, Miss Maximoff," he said, smiling at her.

"I am afraid that I will be fired if I did so," Wanda said, giving him a shy smile. "But perhaps one day when Mr. Stark is not around."

"Perhaps."

"Wanda!" Pietro called out, and she sighed softly.

"Excuse me, Vision." Wanda walked over to the counter that Pietro was behind, glaring at him. 

"You did not need to interrupt me. I was having a nice conversation with Vision."

"His name is Jarvis," Pietro stressed. "And he's too old for you."

"Pietro, I will not address this ridiculousness again."

"Then stop having nice conversations with _Jarvis_."

Wanda wanted to reach across the counter and smack her twin brother upside the head, but the sound of the front door opening made her turn around and reach for her order book. "Look alive, Pietro. Show's starting."

**********

**7:15pm – Monday**

Bobbi Morse was having a very bad day. She'd been called into work two hours early because one of the teenagers had flaked out on their shift again, her customers were being obnoxious, she wasn't getting very good tips, and her ex-husband had just walked in the door.

Yeah, definitely a bad day.

She walked over to the bar and set her tray down on the counter, pulling an order slip from her book and holding it out to Clint Barton, one of the bartenders and the only other employee who had managed to survive the wrath of Tony Stark since the day the restaurant had opened. "Order, Barton."

Clint took the slip from her and glanced over at where Lance Hunter was in deep conversation with the nighttime manager, Phil Coulson. "You have any idea why Hunter is here?"

"I would prefer you didn't ask me about that right now," Bobbi snapped. "Just make my drinks."

"That bad of a day, huh?"

"You have no idea."

Clint turned around and reached for a few bottles before turning back to Bobbi. "Coulson has been looking for a new server so he can fire that teenager that never shows up."

"Don't even say that," Bobbi said. "I will quit if Hunter starts working here."

"You will not," Clint said, mixing one of the drinks. "You will tolerate him without telling him that you regret your divorce because you are a masochist like that."

"I do not regret my divorce," Bobbi hissed. "Hunter is intolerable at the best of times."

"Which is why you were married for almost ten years," Clint said. "Straight out of high school, you  
lovebirds."

"Say another word about that and the drink you're about to hand me is going to get shoved down your throat."

"Fine," Clint said, setting a glass on the tray. "But Hunter's shaking Coulson's hand and Phil looks relieved."

Bobbi glanced behind her at Hunter and Coulson, snapping her head around when they started walking their way. "Oh God, no, this is so not what I need today."

"Bobbi, Clint," Coulson said as he walked up to them. "This is Lance Hunter. He'll be joining us as a server."

Clint set down the shaker he'd been holding and reached out his hand. "Good to see you again, Hunter."

"Good to see you too, Clint," Hunter said, shaking Clint's hand. "Hello, Bob."

"Hunter," Bobbi said, her eyes thunderous as she fixed a glare at him.

"You already know each other? Great," Coulson said. "Bobbi, he's going to shadow you for the rest of the night. Now, excuse me, I have a phone call I need to make."

"Hey, are we having a party down here?" came Daisy Johnson's voice, and Clint smiled as she walked down to his end of the bar. "And you didn't invite me, Barton?"

"Not a party," Bobbi snapped, and Daisy looked momentarily hurt. "Sorry. Just, definitely not a party."

"Ohhhhhhhhhkay," Daisy said, leaning up against the bar and looking over at Hunter. "And you are?"

"Hunter," he said, holding out his hand. "New server."

"Awesome," she said, shaking his hand. "Daisy. Does this mean Coulson is getting rid of the flaky teenager?"

"It better," Clint said, setting the last of Bobbi's drinks on her tray. "Alright, Morse, you're good to go."

Bobbi plastered a smile on her face. "Thank you ever so much, Barton," she said before picking up the tray and walking off, leaving Hunter to trail along behind her.

Daisy leaned closer to Clint. "That's not _that_ Hunter, is it?"

"Yes, yes it is," Clint said. "This is going to be interesting."

"Or a bloodbath," Daisy said. "You know how Mockingbird is."

"You may well be right, Quake," Clint said, laughing when she shoved him playfully. "What? I think it's hysterical that Stark calls you Quake. Shook so hard in your interview that he thinks you could cause an earthquake."

"Yeah, well, you're the only one who finds it funny, Hawkeye," Daisy said, walking back to her end of the bar when Natasha Romanoff walked up to it. "Whatcha got for me, Widow?"

"Two brandies, a blended strawberry margarita, a watermelon margarita on the rocks, and a handgun for me to kill these frat boys and their obnoxious bleached blonde sorority girlfriends with."

"I can do the brandies and the margaritas but I'm afraid I'm all out of handguns for the evening," Daisy said, plucking the slip from between Natasha's fingers. "I'm sorry you got stuck with that table, but to make you feel better, Bobbi's ex-husband just got a job here, so you're not the only one who is having a shitty night."

Natasha turned to look behind her, finding Bobbi shoving a menu in a man's chest and angrily telling him to memorize it. "That's Hunter?"

"The one and only," Daisy said, setting two glasses on the tray and pouring brandy into them. "This is going to be so much fun."

Natasha drew her attention back to Daisy. "I highly doubt that it will be fun," she said. "Entertaining, however, I will go with."

Daisy nodded and finished up the margaritas. "Go forth and encourage the college kids to drink," she said, setting the glasses down on the tray. "Pray they leave the tip space on their credit card receipt blank again so you can give yourself a huge tip."

Natasha grinned wickedly. "Oh, I'm getting a huge tip out of this table one way or another."

Daisy just laughed as Natasha walked off, making her way to the table with the college kids only to find Steve Rogers, the head of nighttime security, standing there talking to one of the idiot frat boys. "Out of my way, Rogers. First round's here."

Steve turned to face Natasha and saw the alcohol on the tray. "And you're not even drunk yet. I think this is a record for you, Jake."

Natasha didn't stick around to hear the rest of it, just set the drinks down on the table and got as far away as she could. She really did appreciate Steve trying to calm the college kids down, especially that particular group of college kids, but really, it didn't do well for other customers to see that security was needed at one of her tables. She walked back towards the kitchen only to hear the voice of one of the hosts say "Natasha will be your server tonight, Professor Selvig," and then immediately turned back to that table.

Professor Erik Selvig, world-renowned astrophysicist, a tenured professor at the same university the idiot college kids attended. Selvig ate dinner at the restaurant every night, and he was a _very_ generous tipper. Natasha's night just got a hell of a lot better.


	2. Chapter 2

**8:37am – Tuesday**

"Good morning, Colonel Rhodes," Wanda said as she approached his table. "What can I get for you this morning?"

"Wanda, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Rhodey?" he asked, looking over at her. "And I love that you are wearing scarlet today, my dear Witch."

Wanda blushed prettily. "I was pretty much ordered to wear scarlet every day by Mr. Stark yesterday, so I am back in the scarlet that I love. Anyway, what can I get you, Rhodey?"

"There we go," Rhodey said, picking up the menu. "Um, how about a bacon and cheese omelette with homemade whole wheat toast, strawberry jelly, and a cup of coffee with coconut milk on the side."

Wanda scribbled all that out in her order book and nodded. "Food will be out shortly. I'll be right back with the coffee."

"Thanks!" Rhodey called out as Wanda walked away.

After dropping the order off for the cooks and bringing Rhodey his coffee and coconut milk, Wanda checked on the rest of her tables then ended up standing at the coffee bar where Pietro was on coffee duty yet again. "Colonel Rhodes is very nice, but I am not sure he is that much different to Mr. Stark."

Pietro looked up from where he was literally punching the button on the espresso machine. "Rhodey's great. Never complains. Eats everything on the menu. Gives you huge tips. Who cares if he's a lot like Stark?"

"I happen to," Wanda said, shaking her head when Pietro punched the espresso machine again. "Pietro, that is not going to get it to work."

"It's the only way it works," Pietro countered, punching it one more time before letting out a mock cheer as the coffee began to pour. "Fucking useless piece of shit."

"Pietro!" Wanda called out. "Do not let anyone hear you talk like that!"

Pietro just stared at Wanda. "Have you heard the chatter coming from the kitchen?"

"You are not an obnoxious short order cook," Wanda said, putting her hands on her hips. "And you have manners. Mama would be horrified to hear you speak like that."

"Don't bring Mama into this," Pietro said, his voice deadly. "We have no idea what Mama would have said, done, thought, or felt."

Wanda nodded solemnly. "You are right. I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

"You don't have to ask for forgiveness," Pietro said, pouring the espresso into a mug before reaching for the milk. "We do have to talk about the apartment though."

"I am not sure this is the place for that," Wanda said quietly. "I would prefer that no one knew that we are being evicted."

"Well, we've got to talk about it soon," Pietro snapped. "We've got two days to get our stuff out of the apartment, Wanda. TWO DAYS."

Wanda sighed as Pietro placed the finished drink in front of her. "Have you looked in the newspaper?"

"Wanda, if we cannot afford that apartment, we are not going to be able to afford another."

"Then what are we going to do?" Wanda asked, twisting the mug around in her fingers.

"There's always that hostel not that far from here," Pietro said. "At least temporarily."

"Pietro, we have our savings. Surely there's enough there to cover the rent we owe them."

"Look, Wanda, we've got practically nothing, okay? The only thing I can think of to get us more money is to ask to work more hours. And I've already done that, and Maria said there's no room for us to do that right now." Pietro ran his hands over his face. "Go deliver the drink and then come back. We'll figure something out."

Wanda nodded and walked off, and Pietro turned around to find Maria standing behind him. "Maria!"

"You're getting evicted?" Maria said, holding up her hands when Pietro's face turned thunderous. "Hey, you were speaking rather loudly."

Pietro let out a sigh and glanced over at Wanda. "Not a word to her," he said softly, "but the savings she thinks we have? We don't. Someone stole it out of the apartment."

Maria walked forward and put a comforting hand on Pietro's shoulder. "That happened to me when I first moved to New York," she said. "I know that it's probably the last thing you want to do, but you might want to ask Stark for some help."

"Ask Mr. Stark for help?"

"He can definitely hook you up with a place to live, Pietro," Maria said.

"Yes, some fancy place that Wanda and I could not possibly afford," Pietro said, looking over at Wanda. "I promised her that we wouldn't have to live as we did in the foster care system. And here we are, less than five months away from it, and I've failed her."

"You haven't failed her," Maria said, letting go of Pietro's shoulder. "Stark would not put you up in a place that you couldn't afford. Hell, knowing how Stark feels about you two, he'll probably pay your rent for you."

"I could not possibly allow him to do that," Pietro said.

"You might not have a choice," Maria answered. "I've got to call him. Can I talk to him about it?"

Pietro sighed heavily. "Wanda is not going to like this."

"Wanda will be happy to have a roof over her head," Maria said, walking away. "I'll let you know what he says."

Wanda approached the counter to see Pietro looking towards the ground. "What was that all about? Is Agent Hill unhappy with us?"

"No," Pietro said, shaking his head. "Wanda, I've got to tell you something. You remember when I came back to the apartment to find someone had broken in..."

*****

**9:15pm – Tuesday**

"Widow, the weirdos are yours," Bobbi said in passing, and Natasha cursed loudly in Russian. She did not want to deal with that group at all, but Bobbi had taken the table the last time they came in and so it was her turn.

She approached the table apprehensively, making sure that she went towards the group's de facto leader, a large blond man named Thor. _Thor._ He had told her long ago that he was of Norse descent but still. _Thor._ Someone had actually named their son after a mythological god. And his younger brother's name was _Loki._ That had to be one weird family.

Thor had a perfectly lovely astrophysicist girlfriend named Jane, and Natasha smiled at her as she approached the table. "Good evening, everyone."

"Hello, Widow!" Thor exclaimed. "We have come to feast and drink!"

Oh, and Thor spoke like he was a medieval king. Natasha had lived in a lot of places in the world. In none of them did they speak like it was still medieval times.

"Well, how about we start with the drinks?" Natasha said, making sure she kept a smile on her face. Thor's friends had a lot of strange names too. Sif, Heimdall, Hogun, Fandral, Volstagg. Seriously, the man was named Volstagg. Natasha had carded him once to make sure. The only person who joined their group that was almost as normal as Jane was a man named Peter Quill, but he insisted on being called Star-Lord.

_Star-Lord._

But as one who was known to everyone as Black Widow and not Natasha, she knew she really couldn't comment on that.

As soon as she got their drink orders, she headed towards the bar, where she found Clint and Bobbi flirting shamelessly in front of Hunter. She didn't even need to ask what was going on because she already knew. Bobbi was worried about Hunter's intentions since he'd gotten a job at the place where he knew she worked, so she'd talked Clint – happily married with two-almost-three children Clint – to act like Bobbi's new love interest. She was totally telling Laura about this later so Clint could be lectured on how stupid it was from his wife.

"Stop flirting, Barton," Natasha said, sticking a tray on the counter and handing over the order slip. "The weirdos are here to feast and drink and I think they've ordered half the drinks menu."

Clint looked down at the slip in his hand and sighed. "Daisy! I'm going to need your help on this one!"

Daisy walked down and looked at the list, shaking her head. "Where do these people get the money to drink like this?" she asked. "I mean, they're in here at least three times a week."

"Our parents are filthy rich," came a voice from behind Natasha, and she turned around to see Thor's kid brother Loki standing there. "They let Thor spend money however he damn well pleases."

"And you?" Natasha asked.

"I know better than to waste my money on buying those idiots all the alcohol and food that they can consume," Loki said, taking a seat at the bar. "I spend my money on much better things."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," came a female voice, and a dark-haired girl in a beanie sat down next to him. "You and your stupid designer clothes and your fancy car. I've heard enough of it, Lokes, so shut up."

"Ah, dear Darcy," Loki said. "Here to keep an eye on Jane again?"

"Hey, I don't trust your brother," Darcy said seriously. "He spends more time trying to convince Jane that Norse mythology is real than I care to deal with. Plus, he's distracting her from her research, and I did not join her for a science credit to have to listen to some big muscley guy that sounds like he's from 1385 try to convince Jane that her research is futile because the truth is in the mythology."

"Ah, you two," Daisy said. "Here to brighten up my evening?"

"As usual," Loki said.

Clint nudged Daisy in the side. "Help or not?"

"Yeah, yeah," Daisy said, ripping the slip in half. "I'll do these, you do those."

"Deal," Clint said, taking the half-slip and pulling down some glasses. "So you got stuck with them tonight, Widow?"

"Well, Bobbi had them last time so it's my turn," Natasha said, looking over at her. "Next time, Hunter gets them."

"Deal," Bobbi said, looking over at where Hunter had gone to a table. "He caught on quick but I was expecting that. He worked as a server all through college."

"So when are you getting back together?" Natasha asked carefully, side-eyeing Bobbi.

"We're not," Bobbi said before spinning around and heading towards the kitchen.

"Don't even think about it, Nat," Clint said, shaking his head.

"What?" Natasha asked. "You know as well as I do that she regrets her divorce. He obviously regrets their divorce or he wouldn't have specifically come to work where she does. It's my duty to get them back together."

"Widow, you are the resident matchmaker for sure, but leave this one alone," Clint warned, setting a few drinks on the tray. "Keep your focus on Fitz and Simmons."

"Says the man who is shamelessly flirting with Bobbi every chance you get," Natasha said. "You're involved in this already!"

"I am helping out an old friend," Clint said. "She doesn't want Hunter getting too close to her."

"Which means she really wants Hunter to get close to her," Natasha said. "Trust me. I know how these things go, Barton."

"Then when are you and Banner getting back together, hm?"

Natasha sighed heavily. "He doesn't think it's right to date an employee of a company that he has invested in. I don't know why Stark convinced him to come in on the restaurant with him, but he did, and Bruce has a serious moral thing about that. I have to respect that."

"It's ridiculous," Clint said, setting more glasses on the tray and handing back the half-slip. "Go deliver those. I'll help Daisy with the rest."

"I'm telling Laura," Natasha said as she picked up her tray.

"Go ahead," Clint called out as she started to walk away. "She won't mind."

"Sure she won't!"


	3. Chapter 3

**8:59am – Wednesday**

Wanda was at Rhodey's table, talking to him about some police case she had read about in the newspaper. Pietro was manning the coffee bar, which was extremely busy for this time of morning. Maria was in the back yelling at the cooks to work faster because Rhodey had been waiting for his omelette for at least half an hour now. The bus boys were hanging out at the back door smoking until they were needed.

As for Melinda May, she was staring right across the restaurant to where her ex-husband Andrew Garner was seated. There was no one with him because there was always no one with him, and May knew that this was deliberate, just like the fact that he ate breakfast at the restaurant every Wednesday morning was deliberate. Andrew wanted to talk to her. May did not want to talk to him.

This was a stalemate that had been going on for the better part of two years.

May let her vision drift past Andrew to where Wanda had moved over to a table of college kids that she was certain had not gone to their first class. She let her eyes linger there just long enough to see the beginning of the motion of one of the idiot boys' hands sneaking up the back of Wanda's skirt, and she moved as quickly as she used to on the police force. The boy's wrist was snatched before he made contact with any part of Wanda's body, and May yanked him up from the chair.

"I don't know who you think you are," May started, "but this is a civilized establishment and we don't let our patrons sexually assault our servers."

"I wasn't doing anything!" the kid cried out, but May just twisted his arm around behind his back.

"You had your hand up the back of Wanda's skirt to do lord only know what." Wanda gasped as May shoved the kid down onto the table. "I have you on at least four different cameras doing so. Are you really going to deny that?"

"No," the kid said, shaking. "Can you let go of me now?"

"Not until you apologize to Wanda," May said, yanking him back up so he could look Wanda in the eyes. "And nicely."

"I'm sorry," the kid stuttered out. "It's just that you're really hot, and I..."

"I would not finish that sentence if I were you," May threatened.

The kid clamped his mouth shut as May nodded at Wanda. "Go help Pietro. I will deal with this table of idiots."

Wanda hurried away from the table and May let go of the kid, shoving him back down into his chair. "I'm going to send a male server over here since you have proven that you cannot handle a female one. Also, this is your first strike. When you get to three, I get to throw you out of this restaurant for good. Am I understood?"

"Yes," the frightened boys said at once.

May nodded. "Good."

She walked away and headed straight to the back, grabbing an order book along the way before plucking the cigarette out of one of the bus boys' hand and shoving the book into it. "Table twelve is all yours."

The busboy nodded and rushed out to the front of the restaurant. The bus boys always did like it when May gave them a chance to earn a tip.

May leaned up against the door and brought the half-smoked cigarette to her lips, taking a long drag. She heard the footsteps of Maria before she saw her, and when she did, she threw the cigarette out the door and silently followed her to her office.

"What happened now?" Maria asked as she sat down at her desk. "Who do I have to give a strike to?"

"The idiot kids at table twelve," May said. "One of them tried to put his hand up the back of Wanda's skirt. There should be good video evidence on camera six. That one is pointed at the right angle to see it."

When May had first started working at the restaurant, security had been pretty much non-existent. But Stark had brought her in for a reason, and that was to clean his precious restaurant up because he didn't like the reputation it was gaining. So May had security cameras installed, created the three strike system, fired the incompetent members of the so-called security team, and hired a former police colleague, Steve Rogers, for the nighttime shift. Now, Shield Bar & Grille had the number of incidents that required intervention by security reduced by two-thirds.

May was proud of it. She'd never tell anyone that though.

"Alright, I'll have the footage scanned and get the clip. Did they touch her?"

"No," May said. "I got there in time."

Maria smiled at her. "You always do. Going to talk to Andrew today?"

"I think you know the answer to that," May said, standing up and walking out of the office.

She made her way back to her customary position in the restaurant, a place where she could see and hear pretty much everything that was going on in the part of the restaurant that was open during the day and even in the back thanks to the security camera screens in front of her. She was looking down at them when a shadow cast over her, and she looked up to see Pietro standing there.

"I would have killed them if I noticed," he said. "Thank you."

"I wanted to kill them, trust me," May said, nodding her head towards the coffee bar. "Get back to work."

Pietro walked away and May sat down on the stool she had. It was quicker to get off of than a chair and high enough that she could see over the security screens. Her eyes did a sweep of the room, and she sighed with relief when she realized Andrew was gone.

She really didn't want to talk to him, but she knew she'd see him next Wednesday, bright and early as always.

*****

**7:32pm – Wednesday**

The restaurant was almost half full as Bruce Banner walked in. He still couldn't believe that he was part owner of the place, but Tony had insisted to him that it would be a good investment of his money. Tony's girlfriend Pepper Potts agreed, and it was only the fact that Pepper agreed that told Bruce it was a good idea. Tony may have a lot of money, but that didn't mean he spent it wisely.

Pepper was at his side as he smiled at Leo Fitz, one of the hosts for the evening, and they were led to Tony's favorite table in the back.

"Is Mr. Stark going to be joining you tonight?" Fitz asked as he set menus on the table and pulled out Pepper's chair for her.

"No, he's in California on business," Pepper said, smiling as she sat down.

"I'll have the bar send over a bottle of Merlot and two glasses then," Fitz said.

"Thanks, Fitz," Bruce called out as he walked away. He picked up the menu and glanced at it. "Has the menu changed?"

"Just the design of it," Pepper said. "Tony got bored with the old ones."

"Didn't we just change the menus about six months ago?"

"That's about the amount of time it usually takes for Tony to get bored of something," Pepper said, smiling when Natasha walked up to the table with their bottle of wine and glasses. "Ah, thank you, Natasha."

Natasha set the wine and glasses down on the table. "You're welcome, Pepper. Hello, Bruce."

"Hello, Natasha," Bruce said, his voice softening. He gave her as good of a look as he could before she walked away, and he sighed once he turned back to the menu.

"You know she'd still take you back, right?" Pepper asked, reaching out for the bottle and pouring them each a glass. "Because I know for a fact that she'd still take you back in a heartbeat."

"You know how I feel about it, Pepper," Bruce said, setting the menu down. "I refuse to date my employees. I own part of this restaurant. That makes her my employee."

"But she wasn't your employee when you started dating her, and she wasn't your employee when you fell in love with her, and she certainly wasn't your employee when you started asking me what kind of ring a lady like Natasha might like," Pepper said seriously. "Bruce, you love her. You wanted to marry her. Why does the fact that she works here have to be such a problem?"

"Look, you and Tony can do the employee-boss relationship thing if you want to, but I have issues with it. If she quit working here, I'd go beg on my knees to get her back. She knows that. And she keeps working here."

"You're not her boss, Bruce," Pepper said, sipping at her wine. "Phil Coulson is her boss."

"You're not going to change my mind on this, Pepper," Bruce said, reaching for his glass. "It's a waste of time."

"Fine," Pepper said, sighing heavily. "I tried talking to Tony again."

"And he changed the subject again, I'm sure," Bruce said, setting his glass down after a sip. "Pepper, he's obviously not ready for marriage."

"Yeah, well, I am," Pepper said. "We've been together for almost ten years, Bruce. Who dates for ten years without getting married?"

"I cannot answer that," Bruce said. "You know I sympathize with you, Pepper. But Tony's a very different kind of person to anyone I've ever met. He does things his own way, at his own pace, on his own time. If I was him, I would have proposed to you years ago. But I'm not him, and he's obviously not ready."

Pepper sighed again. "Sometimes, I honestly question why it is I stay with him. He doesn't want to settle down, he flirts with every woman in sight, he loves his lab more than he does me. I mean, seriously, I often question whether it's worth all the effort."

"But you love him."

"But I love him," Pepper said, taking another sip of wine. "And I really don't want to live without him. And I love my job, and I really don't want to live without that either."

Bruce just shook his head. "He would not fire you if you were to break up."

"No, but I'd quit if we were to break up," Pepper said honestly. "I couldn't be around him all the time."

Bruce was about to say something when a server approached the table and he smiled at him. "You're new."

"My name is Hunter," he said. "I've worked here for two days."

"And they sent you to our table?" Pepper asked.

"I've been told who you are, Mr. Banner and Ms. Potts, and I am fully capable of handling this, no matter what Bobbi says," Hunter said. "Can I start you off with an appetizer?"

Bruce grabbed the menu while Pepper told him to just bring the sampler, and Hunter nodded before walking off. "That's not Bobbi's Hunter is it?"

Pepper laughed. "I'm sure there's a lot of fun going on around here if it is."

"I'll have to ask Nat—Tony if he knows."

Pepper shook her head. "You can still talk to her, you know."

"It's too hard," Bruce said after a minute. "To have been that close to happiness finally and just...I know you think I'm an idiot for it, but I watched my mother work for my father, and I learned at a very early age what an absolute abject disaster that situation was. I don't want to ruin my relationship with Natasha by having that dynamic."

"So breaking up with her was your solution?" Pepper sighed. "Bruce, I hope you realize you're making a huge mistake, and soon because I don't know how much longer Natasha's going to wait for you to change your mind."

Bruce picked up his menu again and began to study it. "Are we here to have a discussion about our personal lives, or are we here for the discussion about the implementation of my research that you told me this was going to be?"

Pepper stared at him for a minute before sighing and picking up her own menu. "Fine, business dinner it is."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's not a Wednesday but I'M SUPER SORRY ABOUT HOW LONG THIS HAS TAKEN. I had broken computer hell and then internet connection hell and then I got really sick. But I'm back now and this will continue to be updated at a hopefully regular pace. If you've stuck around, I love you for doing so. Thanks so much!

**10:39am – Thursday**

"Happy, I've got a break room full of boxes and suitcases and two very depressed eighteen-year-olds in the front," Maria said as Happy Hogan sat down across from her. "Please tell me you are here to take care of that."

"I am," Happy said, prompting Maria to sigh with relief.

"Thank God," Maria said. "I don't think I could take another moment of the twins moping around. May let them bring the boxes and stuff in this morning only after she inspected them, which is totally a May thing to do. And then they had such puppy dog looks in their eyes that I couldn't tell them that it had to go somewhere else."

Happy nodded and reached into the briefcase that was sitting on his lap. "This is a copy of their new address and new phone numbers because when Tony heard that neither of them had a phone, he immediately personally tricked out two StarkPhones for his beloved Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch."

"Good, that will make getting in touch with them easier," Maria said, taking the paper that Happy offered and looking at it. "Happy, this is the address of Stark Tower."

"Yes, it is," Happy said. "They'll each have a floor, but they'll be connected by staircases as well as the private elevator so the twins don't think that he's trying to separate them. I honestly don't know how much he overpaid the contractors to have that work finished in two days, but they did it."

Maria set the paper down and looked over at him. "And how does Pepper feel about this? I mean, he won't settle down with her but he's essentially adopting a pair of teenagers."

"She thinks it's good, actually," Happy said. "She thinks it will be good for him to have them around, give them more of a sense of a family. She thinks that might actually get him thinking about having a family of his own."

Maria didn't think that would happen, but she didn't say that to Happy. "Let's hope so. Pepper's been waiting for long enough."

"Too true," Happy said, closing the briefcase and standing up. "I'll send people over to collect their things and deliver them to the Tower. They should be here within the next hour."

"Sounds great," Maria said. "Now please go tell the twins so the moping can stop."

"Doing that right now," Happy said, walking out of the office and heading to the front of the restaurant. Wanda was busy with a customer, but Pietro was on bus boy duty that day and he was standing near the coffee bar, waiting for something to do. Happy decided he'd make small talk with him until Wanda was free and then tell them together. "Pietro, how are you this morning?"

"To be honest with you, Happy, I have had much better days in my life than this one," Pietro said, his eyes never leaving Wanda. "I promised her for years that once we got out of the foster care system I would take care of her, and here we are, and I have failed miserably."

"You have not failed miserably," Happy said, shaking his head. "You two have steady jobs and you're not out on the streets."

"Did you not see all the boxes?" Pietro asked, looking towards the break room. "We are out on the streets."

Wanda came over to them and Happy smiled. "You two are not out on the streets. You're the newest residents of Stark Tower."

Wanda's jaw fell open in shock, and Pietro stared at Happy as though he was speaking a foreign language. "What?"

"When Mr. Stark heard that you were being evicted, he predictably wanted to help. Also predictably, he went completely over the top in doing so. You two each have your own floor at Stark Tower, and he had additional staircases and open spaces put in so it will feel more like one of you is living upstairs and the other downstairs in one of the penthouse apartments he first wanted to put you up in," Happy said, reaching into the briefcase and pulling out two bags. "The red one is for you, Wanda, and I'm supposed to apologize for it not being the exact shade of scarlet but Mr. Stark had Manhattan scoured for a scarlet one and nothing was found. The blue one is for you, Pietro."

The twins looked at each other for a few moments before Wanda tentatively reached out and took hers, prompting Pietro to take his. They both spent a moment looking inside the bags before Pietro spoke. "Wow."

"All of this is from Mr. Stark?" Wanda asked.

"Yes," Happy said. "Customized and tricked out StarkPhones, brand new StarkPads, credit cards that I assure you you will never see a bill for, the information on how to get into the building and to your designated floors, and information on the college funds that Mr. Stark set up in your honor so you can attend classes if you wish."

Wanda looked up from her bag with tears in her eyes. "Why is Mr. Stark being so nice to us?"

"Mr. Stark loves you two, and when it comes to people that Mr. Stark loves, he doesn't hold back. I think he sees a bit of himself in you two, in what you've had to deal with since the death of your parents," Happy said softly. "I think he sees a similar path for himself if not for inheriting a fortune, and he wants to do whatever he can to make life easier for you two now. Make it so you never have to worry about anything ever again."

Pietro looked over at Wanda and they appeared to have a silent conversation before Pietro cleared his throat. "When does Mr. Stark get back from California so we can thank him?"

"He got back this morning, and you two are invited to have dinner with him and Pepper in the common area kitchen tonight," Happy said, smiling. "Now, I'll have someone here within an hour to get your stuff and take it back to the Tower, and I'll make sure a car is waiting when your shift is over. Do either of you know how to drive?"

"I do," Pietro said.

"Then I would expect a car will be your next gift," Happy said, closing up the briefcase. "I will see you two around the Tower. Enjoy the rest of your day."

*****

**10:59pm – Thursday**

Steve had just walked back to the security center when she walked in. Simmons seated her at a table directly in his line of sight, and Steve smiled as she carefully took off her hat and coat before sitting down. She didn't look at the menu – she never did, probably had it memorized by now – and she smiled at Bobbi when she approached the table. He knew exactly what drink she ordered, a French 75, a classic 1940s champagne cocktail, and when Bobbi left the table, her eyes drifted over until she was looking right at Steve.

Steve smiled and nodded, and she smiled in return before pulling a compact from her purse and checking her appearance. This was the game that they played, the compact being the signal that she was ready for Steve to come sit and talk with her for awhile, and since she always made it a habit of coming in later in the evening, he left like he could let his guard down and do so for awhile.

He turned around to tell his fellow guards that he was going on break, and he found Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson standing right behind him, their shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

"I see your girlfriend is here," Sam said.

"Yeah," Bucky added, "are you at least going to find out her name this time?"

"How about both of you just get back to work?" Steve asked, sick of the teasing. "Let's just forget about all of the teasings tonight."

"We're working," Bucky said. "And why would we stop teasing you?"

"Teasing you is way too much fun, man," Sam said. "You've got to loosen up, Rogers. You'll never get any chick with this tension-filled, morally-superior life you live."

"You know what would make it less tension-filled? You two doing your jobs instead of antagonizing me."

Their attention was drawn away when the sound of a glass shattering on the ground hit them, and before Steve could move towards where Hunter had obviously knocked a glass on the floor, Bobbi was in Hunter's face.

"Hunter! What in the hell are you doing?"

Hunter looked up at Bobbi and instantly recognized the look on her face. "It was a glass, Bob. There are others."

"You can't just go around shattering glasses, Hunter!" Bobbi yelled. "Do you even realize the entire restaurant is staring at you right now?"

"Actually, Bob, I think they're staring at you yelling at me," Hunter said, and Bobbi took a quick glance around before grabbing Hunter by the elbow and dragging him into the kitchen.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Bobbi hissed as soon as they were inside. "Because it's sure as hell not because you need a job. You're a fucking psychiatrist."

"Do you actually need me to answer that question?" Hunter responded. "You know why I'm here, Bob. You've known since the moment you first saw me here."

"This shameless attempt to make me like you again is not going well."

"Well, your shameless attempt to flirt with Barton isn't going well either. Did you think I'd forget about his wife and kids? Daisy and Natasha both confirmed he's not divorced and that he's about to become a father again."

Bobbi nearly screamed. "Fucking quit this job tonight, Hunter."

"Absolutely not," Hunter said, his voice cool and collected. "I am not quitting this job until I have you back."

"Should have thought about trying to change my mind before the divorce was finalized."

"I did try, Bob," Hunter said softly. "You know I did."

Bobbi stood there for a moment before shoving Hunter away. "Get a fucking broom and clean up your mess."

Bobbi stormed out of the kitchen and past the security center, leaving Steve there shaking his head.

"I wonder how long that's going to go on," he murmured. "Anyway, I'm taking a break, gentlemen. And please, no false alarms this time."

Bucky and Sam sighed but said nothing as Steve made his way over to the woman's table.

"Good evening," he said as he approached.

"Good evening," she responded, her English lilt making the words all the more appealing to Steve.

"May I join you?"

"Of course."

Steve sat down across from her as Bobbi brought her drink over, and he smiled as she took a sip. "Still the French 75, hm?"

"Have you ever had one?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Then you should try one sometime," she said. "It is the very best of champagne cocktails, in my opinion. Sure, there are more recent recipes, but sometimes, old fashioned is better than newfangled ideas."

Steve smiled. "I agree with you about old fashioned."

"Do you now?" she said, taking another sip of her drink. "I would have thought a man like you would be all about newfangled ideas."

"Some of them are good, that is true," Steve said. "But there is a lot to be said for the old fashioned ideas. House in the suburbs, white picket fence, two children, that sort of thing."

"Is that what you're looking for then?"

"Try to," Steve said. "Bit hard to find someone like that here in the city though."

"Perhaps you've just been looking in the wrong place," she said, smiling as Bobbi came back to the table to take her order. "Just give me the usual, Bobbi. And don't give that man such a hard time."

"If you knew who he was, you wouldn't be saying that to me," Bobbi said, tucking her order book into her apron. "Food will be out soon."

Steve didn't have to ask what the usual was because he already knew. Shrimp and pasta with garlic Alfredo sauce topped with freshly shredded Parmesan and Romano cheeses and served with a breadstick. "Don't feel like mixing it up tonight?"

"I've had enough mixed up today," she said. "Angie and I had a hard time in court. I hate defense attorneys that try to have all our evidence ruled out. This one was so convinced that we couldn't use the blood samples taken from underneath the victim's fingernails that matched the defendant's blood perfectly. I think even the judge wanted to laugh at that one. I got so angry with the defense attorney that I had to leave the rest to Angie."

"So you're a prosecutor then," Steve said. "I didn't know that."

"Haven't I ever mentioned that before?" she asked.

"No, you haven't," Steve said. "I've worked with a lot of good prosecutors. I'm sure you're one of them."

"Trying to be," she said, taking another sip of her drink. "A lot of judges do a double take when they hear my accent for the first time, but as soon as they figure out that I know what I'm doing, they relax into the hearing. Now, tell me how you worked with prosecutors."

"I was on the force for about ten years," Steve said. "Worked my way up onto the special victims unit. Talked to a lot of prosecutors because of it."

She nodded. "SVU cases are some of the saddest I have to deal with. I so enjoy putting those bastards in prison."

"I enjoyed that a lot too." Steve's attention was drawn away as a few men suddenly got loud and were obviously trying to get Natasha to do something she didn't want to do. He noticed Bucky and Sam already at other tables and sighed. "Duty calls."

"Until next time then, Steve."

"Until next time, miss."

"Peggy."

"Excuse me?" Steve said as he stood up.

"Peggy," she said again. "Peggy Carter. That's my name, and I really should have told you that ages ago."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Peggy," Steve said, grimacing when he heard Natasha yell his name. "I've got to go."

Steve turned around and headed towards the trouble, all while thinking that Peggy was a name that suited his new friend very well.


	5. Chapter 5

**7:28am – Friday**

"Morning, Widow," Wanda said as she approached her table. "A little early for your shift, isn't it?"

Natasha smiled at her. "I am here to meet a friend for breakfast. And to talk to you about how it's going with Vision."

Wanda sighed and pulled out a chair, sitting down. "I don't know. I try to speak with him every time he comes in, but then Pietro scolds me for talking to him"

"Okay, first off, tell Pietro to fuck off."

"I cannot do that," Wanda said quickly.

"And why not?" Natasha asked.

"He's my older brother," Wanda said plainly. "I cannot tell him to do that."

Natasha just laughed. "Have you ever said the word fuck, Wanda?"

Wanda blushed. "I do not like such language."

"Trust me, your life will be better the first time you tell someone to fuck off," Natasha said, smiling widely. "The ballet academy where my parents sent me to be brought up? The instructor pushed me harder and harder and harder until I finally told him to fuck off and it was liberating. I left the place soon after, and eventually made my way to America."

Wanda pondered that for a moment. "And people will not think me less of a lady if I say it?"

"Not in this day and age," Natasha said. "Have you been talking to Rogers?"

"Perhaps," Wanda said, taking a deep breath. "So first I tell Pietro to.........fuck off."

Natasha grinned. "Well done, Wanda. Yes, first you tell Pietro to fuck off, and then you ask Vision if he would like to have dinner sometime."

Wanda shook her head. "I cannot do that. Pietro won't approve."

"Hence the telling him to fuck off," Natasha said. "Look, if you ever want to get anywhere with Vision, you're going to have to see him outside of the restaurant."

"I can see him at the Tower."

Natasha gave her a confused look. "The Tower?"

"Pietro and I got evicted, Mr. Stark became aware of this, and now Pietro and I live at Stark Tower." Wanda blushed again. "It is so luxurious, Widow. I have never been in such a place in my life."

"I'm sure it is," Natasha said, shaking her head. "Stark loves you two. I'm not surprised he put you up in the Tower. If only he'd do that for me."

"You're more than welcome, Widow," came Tony's voice, and both women jumped. "I've got plenty of floors I don't know what to do with. Hell, the whole staff can come live there if they want. Rent free."

Natasha and Wanda stared at Tony for a moment before Natasha started to laugh. "You're joking, right?"

"Not at all," Tony said, sitting down at the table with them. "Pepper would love it."

"Pepper would hate it," Natasha said, shaking her head. "She's around us enough. She doesn't need all of us invading her home too."

"Hey, the building is called Stark Tower not Potts Tower. Anyone I want can live in it, whether she likes it or not," Tony said seriously, then shook his head. "Anyway, the offer is out there, should you choose to accept it. So, what's the girl chat about?"

"Nothing," Wanda said quickly.

Natasha laughed again. "Wanda's got a thing for your assistant."

"Vision? My dear Scarlet Witch like Vision?" Tony grinned. "Oh, that would be wonderful. I'll suggest it to Vision myself."

"No!" Wanda exclaimed. "I cannot!"

Tony looked at Natasha, confused. Natasha just shrugged. "Apparently Pietro doesn't approve."

"Well, you leave Quicksilver to me," Tony said, reaching out and putting a hand on Wanda's. "Welcome to the family. Talk to you gals later!"

Tony got up and left only for someone else to fill the chair that he'd abandoned. Natasha smiled. "Hello, Hunter."

"Hello Widow," Hunter said, looking over at Wanda. "Hi, I'm Hunter. I work the night shift."

"Wanda," she said. "Or Scarlet Witch, whichever you prefer. I work mornings. In fact, I should get back to work."

Natasha nodded as Wanda stood up. "How about you start by bringing us coffee and a menu because I know Hunter's never seen the breakfast menu? We'll go from there."

"Got it," Wanda said, turning and beginning to walk away.

"And don't forget to tell Pietro to fuck off!" Natasha called after her, looking over at Rhodey when he laughed. "What?"

"She'll never do that in a million years, Widow," Rhodey said.

"We'll see," Natasha said, turning her attention to Hunter. "You want your ex-wife back."

"Yes," Hunter said. "I tried for months to get Bobbi to stop the divorce from going through, but she didn't, no matter how close I felt I was to getting her back."

"Well, we're going to have to come up with a plan to get her back then," Natasha said, smiling as Wanda came back to the table with two cups, a carafe of coffee, and a menu. "Brilliant, Wanda."

"Let me know when you want to order," Wanda said before walking away.

Natasha reached for the carafe and one of the cups. "Let's start at the beginning, shall we?"

"The divorce?"

"No," Natasha said, shaking her head as she poured herself a cup. "How did you two meet?"

Hunter laughed as Natasha poured him a cup as well. "Freshman year of high school. I'd just moved here from London, didn't know a soul. We had this horrible homeroom where everyone had to stand up and say something about themselves, and I was ahead of her in the roll call so I stood up and did my thing. I don't even remember what I said, but I bet Bobbi does. Anyway, Bobbi's turn came around, and I remember exactly what she said. 'I'm Bobbi Morse. Don't ever call me Barbara again. I'm a freshman, I've lived here all my life, and I love Lance Hunter's accent.' She walked up to me after homeroom was over, grabbed my schedule out of my hand, determined we had algebra and history together, and that we had the same lunch period. She told me to sit next to her in class and to look for her in the cafeteria. And that was the beginning."

Natasha laughed. "You kids were so young."

"I know we were," Hunter said, reaching for his cup. "She thinks I had an affair but I didn't. So her response was to sleep with someone else. I don't know who. And while it hurt a lot, I was willing to look past it since I couldn't convince her that I'd been faithful. But then all of the sudden there are divorce papers and she's moved in with her mother. That was a year ago. Slowly, very slowly, I talked her back into our apartment, and we were going out on dates on the weekend when she didn't work, and I thought we were getting there, you know? And then suddenly the divorce is final and she's gone. I don't know what happened."

Natasha pondered that as she sipped from her cup. "Well, we're going to figure it out. I promise you, I will do everything I can to get you two back together. Clint calls me the resident matchmaker for a reason."

"If you can get me and Bob back together, I will be forever indebted to you."

Natasha grinned. "You are not the first person who's ever said that to me."

*****

**8:17pm – Friday**

Simmons walked back to the podium at the front of the restaurant and frowned. She had Professor Selvig's table blocked off for him, and she'd shown him to his table, but she'd just walked by the table and no one was there. She hadn't seen him leave, and it was only a quarter past eight. He'd only arrived at ten to eight.

She felt Fitz approach her from behind and turned around. "Where did Professor Selvig go?"

Fitz turned and looked around the restaurant until he spotted him. "It seems he's joined the weirdos this evening."

Simmons felt her chin drop. "He's sitting with the weirdos?"

"I think I remember Jane saying once that he used to be her professor," Fitz said, turning back to the table chart. "So we can open up his table and seat that party of three that's been waiting for half an hour."

"Wait, he used to be Jane's professor?"

Fitz looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah. I think he's still her supervisor at the university, actually. She would be working in his department."

Simmons was shocked. "How did I not know this?"

"I'm not sure you were working on the night I had that conversation with Jane, actually," Fitz said, poking at the table on the screen to open it back up. "I'm going to go seat that party of three, okay? We'll talk about this when I come back."

Simmons just nodded as Fitz called out a name and then led three people past the podium and into the restaurant. She let her eyes follow Fitz as he walked, smiling and making small talk with the people he was seating like he always did.

"You should just tell him already."

Simmons spun around to see Bucky standing there. "Bucky! Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Break," Bucky said, nodding in Fitz's direction. "You know that he'd totally be okay with you two dating, right?"

Simmons shook her head. "No, he wouldn't."

"Then you are missing some obvious signs," Bucky said. "As Widow would say, that boy's got it bad for you."

"He does not," Simmons protested.

"Who does not what?" Sam said, walking over to stand next to Bucky. "What are we talking about?"

"Fitz's obvious attraction to Simmons," Bucky said. "She doesn't believe it."

Sam looked at her like she was crazy. "Trust us, Simmons. He is totally into you."

"Who is totally into you?" Fitz asked, walking up behind Simmons.

"That new cook that Coulson hired," Simmons said quickly, turning around. "Nothing important."

"Oh," Fitz said, his face neutral before turning his gaze on Bucky and Sam. "Well, alright. What are you two doing?"

"Going back to work," Bucky said, and Sam nodded before they both walked off.

Simmons turned back to the podium, glad that conversation was over. "Where are we going to fit that party of six?" she asked, changing the subject.

Fitz started to respond as Tony breezed past the podium and into the restaurant. He glanced around for a moment and then headed to the office in the back. Coulson was sitting at the desk, adding something up on a calculator.

"Agent Coulson! Just the man I needed to see," Tony said, closing the door and sitting down across from the desk. "Do you have any idea what kind of movies teenagers like?"

Coulson looked up at Tony. "Why would I know that?"

"I don't know," Tony said. "You look like the kind of guy who would have teenagers at home."

Coulson just shook his head. "Rosalind and I have barely been married six months, Mr. Stark. We certainly haven't had any time for teenagers yet."

"Damn," Tony said. "I was hoping you'd be able to help me out."

"Why are you so interested in movies that teenagers would like?"

"Because I've got the twins living in the Tower now, and I want them to have a plethora of movies at the ready in their screening room. I should have just put F.R.I.D.A.Y. on it."

Coulson didn't have to ask who F.R.I.D.A.Y. was. Everyone at the restaurant knew about F.R.i.D.A.Y. because Tony couldn't keep his mouth shut about the incredible A.I. he'd built to help run the Tower, and about how he'd modeled it after Jarvis, or Vision, or whatever it was his boss wanted him to call his assistant this week. "Might I suggest asking them?"

"I did, and they listed like ten. That's not enough. Those poor kids went through foster care without anyone ever giving a damn about them, and I'm going to make sure they never feel that way again," Tony said, standing up. "Well, I guess I'm on to Plan B."

"And what is Plan B?"

"The weirdos," Tony said, shaking his head and moving towards the door. "Oh, by the way, congratulations on the marriage, Coulson. Really, you should have said something sooner. I'll have a gift sent over."

"That's not necessary, Mr. Stark."

"It'll be there by Tuesday," Tony said, opening the door. "Gifts are always necessary. What does the wife do for a living?"

"Rosalind runs a non-profit organization focused on at-risk youth," Coulson said.

"Send Vision an email with the name of it and I'll make a sizable donation," Tony said. "And I'm serious about that."

Tony left the office and made his way back up front, frowning when he saw that the weirdos were gone. Sighing heavily, he walked over to Fitz and Simmons. "Where did the weirdos go?"

"They left early tonight, Mr. Stark," Fitz said. "Something about viewing planets through a telescope on top of Jane's apartment building. Professor Selvig went with them."

"Selvig went with them? Great, this is going to turn into a never-ending night then," came a female voice behind them, and Tony spun around to see Darcy standing there.

"Darcy Lewis!" Tony practically jumped with joy. "Do you have any idea what kind of movies teenagers like?"

"Oh yeah," Darcy said, grinning. "Volstagg says I'm a walking pop culture dictionary. Whatcha want to know?"

"Can I give you a ride to wherever it is you're going?" Tony asked. "I need to take notes on this, and my StarkPad is in the car."

"Totally," Darcy said. "Better than getting a ride with this asshole."

"Aw, I love you too, Darcy," Loki said as he walked up behind her. "If I have no need to take you to Jane's, then I am going to see Sigyn."

"Ah yes, your mythological girlfriend who doesn't exist."

"Except for the fact that she does," Loki said, walking past them. "Goodnight!"

Darcy just rolled her eyes. "He is such an asshole."

Tony laughed. "So, Darcy, that ride?"

"Right behind you, Mr. Stark."


	6. Chapter 6

**12:47pm – Saturday – The Barton House**

Cooper was chasing Lila around the house for reasons Clint didn't understand, Laura was in the kitchen doing dishes after lunch, and Clint was sitting in the family room, staring at the woman who was curled up on his sofa. "Bobbi, are you ever going to tell me what really happened?"

"It doesn't matter," Bobbi muttered. "It's happened. It's over."

Clint sighed. "Bobbi, just because your divorce was finalized doesn't mean you can't get remarried."

"I don't want to get remarried. Not to him."

Clint frowned. "So you want to get married to someone else?"

Bobbi stared at Clint for a moment. "Well, not right now. Like in the future. When I am fully liberated from him."

"Bobbi," Clint started before pausing for a few moments. "Look, let's start with the basics. Do you still love Hunter?"

"Of course," Bobbi murmured. "I'm always going to love Hunter. But love isn't enough, Clint."

"Then what would be enough? What would Hunter have to do?"

"Why are you so concerned about this?"

"Because you showed up at my house at 9:00 am completely drunk, nearly passed out on my sofa until Laura convinced you to eat something, and have been moaning to me about Hunter for nearly two hours now?"

Bobbi groaned and covered her eyes with her arm. "Don't judge me."

"I'm not judging you, Mockingbird. I'm trying to help."

"You're using Stark's bullshit nickname for me now? Fine, _Hawkeye_."

"It's Mockingbird or Barbara. You take your pick."

Bobbi removed her arm from her eyes long enough to glare at Clint. "I don't answer to Barbara and I never will."

"Then by process of elimination, it's Mockingbird," Clint said as Bobbi covered up her eyes again. "Hunter is a special person to you, Bobbi. And you're a special person to him, or he wouldn't have taken a second job at a fucking restaurant when he's a damn good psychiatrist who has so much stress from that job that he sleeps barely two hours a night now just so he can be close to you."

"How do you know that?"

"Because we've talked," Clint said. "He asked about Laura and the kids. I asked about how he was doing. He's very open about why it is he's working at the restaurant."

"Great," Bobbi moaned. "Now the whole restaurant knows how pathetic I am."

"No one thinks you're pathetic," Clint assured her. "Hunter's just charmed pretty much everyone, and no one can understand how you can hate him so much."

"I don't hate him. It's about trust."

"Because of the affair? He swore to you that he didn't have one."

"I know," Bobbi, sighed heavily. "But I did."

Clint was shocked. "What?"

"A friend named Mack," Bobbi said quietly. "It went on for months before the whole thing with the paralegal came up. And he stood there and he looked me in the eyes and he told me it didn't happen and I knew he was telling the truth. But I couldn't tell him the truth about Mack and I. So I did what I thought was right and ended things with Mack before filing for divorce. I didn't think I could look him in the eyes anymore."

"Bobbi."

"I know, I know, I'm an idiot," Bobbi mumbled. "I don't deserve him. That's the problem. He's done everything right and I've done everything wrong and I don't deserve his love so therefore I am doing everything I can to make sure I don't have it."

Clint stood up and walked over to the sofa, sitting down on the floor next to it. "Bobbi, how long have we known each other?"

"Since Stark first opened the door eight years ago."

"And how many times have you been at my house drunk and complaining about Hunter?"

Bobbi laughed. "A lot."

"But you always went home, and you always made up with him, and you always moved on," Clint said. "So why was whatever drove you into Mack's arms different?"

Bobbi didn't say anything for a few minutes, then she moved her hands to her eyes to wipe away the tears that had started to fall. "Children. We couldn't have children. And he seemed perfectly okay with that fact, and I wasn't. And I needed him to not be okay with it. I needed him to feel the same way I did. And when he didn't, and Mack came over and was saying the words that I needed to hear, I just..I made a really bad decision. And then I kept making really bad decisions because I knew there would be no physical consequences for my actions. And yes, I'm a horrible person. I don't need you to say it."

Clint looked up when Laura peered into the room, shaking his head to let her know not to come in. He reached out and wiped away a stray tear on Bobbi's face. "I'm sorry, Bobbi. But you know that people deal with things in different ways. Hunter dealt with it in his, and you dealt with it in an entirely different way."

"I dealt with it by destroying my marriage," Bobbi sobbed. "I can't ever tell him, and because I can't ever tell him, I can't ever get my marriage back. That is why I was miserable about my divorce, Clint. Because it was necessary but hurt so much."

Clint sighed. "You know I'm going to make you tell him, right?"

"I can't."

"You have to, Bobbi. He deserves to know the truth."

"I can't."

Clint turned Bobbi's head so she was looking at him. "Barbara Morse, I've known you for a long, long time. There is nothing that you can't do. Absolutely nothing. This turning and running from a problem is not the Mockingbird that I know."

"Don't call me Barbara."

"Then stop being such an idiot and fight for your marriage."

"My marriage is over."

"That can be changed. All it would take is a simple ceremony down at City Hall and you two would be married again."

"He's going to want nothing to do with me."

Clint took a deep breath. "It's not my place to be telling you this, but since you're being so damn stubborn...he already knows you slept with someone else. Maybe not to the extent of this affair with Mack, but he knows, Bobbi. And he still wants you back."

"How does he..."

"I don't know," Clint said. "I just know what he said."

Bobbi brought her hands up to cover her face. "I am such a horrible person."

"Stop thinking that and start thinking about how you're going to fix this," Clint said.

Cooper and Lila came running into the room at that moment, both talking loud and fast at the same time. Clint put his hand on Bobbi's arm for a moment before standing up and turning towards his children, trying to figure out what they wanted.

*****

**6:01pm – Saturday – Stark Tower**

"Hey F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Pull up the schematics for the twins' floors? I need to see how to fit in the bowling alley," Tony said, staring at the computer screen.

"Right away, sir."

"Bowling alley?"

Tony turned to find Pepper standing there in a beautiful beaded lilac gown, her hair in an elegant chignon, a pair of matching heels dangling from one hand and a lilac clutch in the other. "Why are you all dressed up?"

Pepper sighed heavily. "I knew you'd forget."

"What did I forget? F.R.I.D.A.Y., what did I forget?"

"The Stark Foundation Charity Ball and Auction is tonight at the Waldorf Astoria," F.R.I.D.A.Y. duly answered. "It begins at 8:00 pm, sir."

Tony glanced at the computer screens. "I've got two hours."

"Tony."

"Come on, Pepper. Let me find a place for the bowling alley and then I'll go get dressed for the ball I don't want to go to."

"It's your foundation, Tony."

"And who talked me into starting a foundation, hm? There are plenty of companies around the world that don't have foundations to go along with them."

Pepper sighed heavily. "The foundation was a good idea, Tony. It remains a good idea."

"Your good idea."

"Yes, my good idea," Pepper snapped. "Every good idea about public relations that has come out of Stark Industries for the last twelve years has been my idea. You are the most worthless CEO of a company I've ever seen. You don't do anything to run it."

Tony spun around on his chair to face Pepper. "Fine, you know what? You just got a promotion, Madame CEO. Do what you want with it."

Tony spun back around and Pepper stalked over to him, sticking the clutch under her arm and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Tony, you don't mean that."

"No, Virginia, I do," Tony said seriously. "You're completely right. I don't want to run the company. I've never wanted to run the company. Ever since Obadiah retired, I've been the golden boy. Well, I can invent all the things in the world, but I can't run a business for shit. That's why I have you around and that's why I talked Bruce into coming in on the restaurant. Because I don't want to run these things. I want to sit in my lab and design stuff to make people's lives better and I want to help people like the twins out because no one has ever given them a chance at having a good life. That's what I want to do. So you're CEO now. I'll sign whatever paperwork is necessary."

Pepper took her hand off his shoulder and sighed. "Tony, you don't mean a word of that."

"Yes, I do," Tony said. "Don't I, F.R.I.D.A.Y.?"

"Sir has mentioned it before, Ms. Potts," F.R.I.D.A.Y. said. "I can play you the audio if you'd like."

"That's not necessary," Pepper said, walking around to the other side of the work table and leaning up against it. "Tony, you need to get ready for this ball."

"Nope," Tony said, shaking his head. "I'm not going now. You're the new face of Stark Industries. You can go."

"You're just going to make me go alone?"

"I don't know what you want from me, Pepper," Tony said after a minute. "It seems like nothing I do is good enough for you when I'm doing the best I can. I'm not a family man. I'm not that guy. So if that's what you want, then I suggest you go looking for it somewhere else."

Pepper stayed there for a moment before pushing herself away from the table and walking off. "I'll call Obadiah and see if he'll escort me then."

Tony was alone for all of zero point nine seconds before he heard a tentative "Mr. Stark?" He turned around to see Wanda standing there, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Scarlet Witch! Get on in here!"

Wanda nodded and walked into the room, and Tony smiled in approval when he noticed she was wearing a brand new scarlet dress. "You look absolutely lovely in that dress, Wanda. I approve wholeheartedly."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Wanda said, coming to stop a few steps away from him. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. has been most helpful in finding clothes that are scarlet in shade."

Tony grinned. "Well done, F.R.I.D.A.Y., keeping my Scarlet Witch in scarlet."

"You're welcome, sir."

"How can I help you, my dear Scarlet Witch?" Tony asked, turning to face her fully. "I'm already working on plans for the bowling alley."

Wanda blushed prettily. "I received an email from Vision, Mr. Stark. I was not aware that he had my email address."

"I gave it to him when I told him he better get with it when it comes to you," Tony said, crossing his arms over his chest. "He didn't do something inappropriate, did he? I would hate to have to fire him. He's such a good assistant."

"No, no," Wanda said, shaking her head. "He invited me out to dinner tonight."

"And you're wearing a new dress for the date." Tony grinned. "This is so wonderful, my dear Witch."

Wanda blushed again. "I was coming to you because you said at the restaurant the other day that you would take care of Pietro for me and, well, I haven't told him about the date yet."

Tony stood up and walked towards her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Wanda, you go enjoy your date, and I will go deal with Quicksilver. Got it?"

"Yes, Mr. Stark," Wanda said, laughing a little. "I still cannot believe that he wishes to have dinner with me."

"Well, who wouldn't?" Tony asked. "You're quite the catch, Wanda."

Wanda shook her head. "No, I am not. But it is kind of you to say that."

"What do I have to do to make you believe in yourself, hm?" Tony asked as they approached the elevator.

"I don't know," Wanda said. "Perhaps it will come along soon."

Tony reached out and pressed the button to call the elevator. "Promise me you'll do one thing tonight?"

Wanda blushed again. "If this is the sex talk, I assure you that Ms. Potts already gave me that speech."

Tony laughed. "Oh, no. Have all the sex you want tonight, okay? Just, call Vision Jarvis. I think he'll like that better."

Wanda blushed some more as the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. "I will do that, Mr. Stark. Thank you."

Tony smiled at her until the doors to the elevator shut, and when he turned around, Pietro was standing there. "Quicksilver!"

"Why are you encouraging my sister to have sex tonight?"

Tony shook his head and walked towards Pietro, slinging an arm around his shoulders and leading him out of the room. "So, Pietro, there are a few things we need to talk about, alright?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay in posting but life hasn't cooperated.

**6:23am – Sunday – Chelsea Flower Market**

"We had dinner at a very nice restaurant," Wanda said. "But I am not sure that Jarvis was satisfied with the  
date."

Natasha looked up from the peonies she was looking at to peer at Wanda. "Why?"

"I think I was perhaps too formal."

Natasha sighed. "Wanda, you're too formal with everyone. He had to have expected that."

"Yes, well, I am not sure that was the case," Wanda said, letting her fingers dance over some hydrangeas. "He was very polite and asked me if we could dine together again sometime, but I am not sure."

Natasha stood up to her full height and looked over at her friend. "Wanda, listen to me. If he asked you to have dinner again, that's a good thing."

"How can you be sure of this?"

"Because I've been on a hell of a lot more dates than you have," Natasha said. "And I have had a whole lot more boyfriends that you have. Trust me, if he wants to have dinner again then the first date went well."

Wanda nodded. "Fine, I will trust you. Mr. Stark said he would help with Pietro but Pietro seems more angry with me now that he did before he knew I was having dinner with Jarvis."

"Pietro needs to grow up and learn that you're allowed to go on dates with men he doesn't approve of," Natasha said, picking out a bunch of pink peonies and reaching into her pocket for some money. She handed it to the vendor and then nodded to Wanda. "Come on, I'm not done yet."

"You certainly like flowers, Widow. We come here together often."

"It's a good place to clear my head," Natasha said. "Besides, flowers are pretty."

"Of course flowers are pretty, but where do you put so many of them?"

Natasha paused by another vendor, looking down at some orchids. "I have a big apartment. A big, empty apartment. It makes me feel less lonely to fill it with flowers. Do you know what we need to find? Calla lilies. That's what I need for the upstairs bathroom."

Wanda frowned. "Upstairs bathroom? What kind of apartment do you live in?"

Natasha sighed. "The penthouse I shared with Bruce. He let me have it when he ended things. And I love it but it reminds me of living there with him and it is way too expensive for me to keep living there, so I totally need to find somewhere else to live. I'm thinking of taking up Stark's offer just to spite Bruce."

Wanda wasn't sure if she should comment on what Natasha had said about Bruce, so she didn't. "I would love to be floor neighbors with you, Widow."

Natasha smiled at her. "I'm thinking about it. I need to know if Stark was serious or not though."

"I can find that out for you if you'd like."

"I would appreciate that."

They walked along in silence until Natasha heard Wanda gasp. She turned her gaze away from the flowers she'd been looking at and saw Bruce standing a few feet away, looking at flowers too. "Fuck."

Bruce looked up and spotted them, and he smiled before walking over to them. "Hello, Wanda, Natasha."

"I think I saw some calla lilies a little way back," Wanda said quickly. "I will meet you there, okay?"

Before Natasha could say a word, Wanda had turned and left, so she had no choice but to face Bruce. "Hello."

"Early morning in the flower market," Bruce said. "I think we've been here before."

Natasha just nodded, a memory of them bundled up from the cold and clinging onto each other as they searched for blackberry lilies flashing through her mind. "We have. Many times."

"Peonies, I see," Bruce said, looking at the flowers in Natasha's hands before holding up his own bundle. "Irises."

"You always did love the irises," Natasha said. "For someone special?"

"No," Bruce said quickly. "I mean, they're for my mom."

Natasha laughed. "I'd call that someone special."

Bruce reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I just thought you meant like a girlfriend or something."

"I wouldn't want to know about a girlfriend or something," Natasha said pointedly.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, then Bruce coughed slightly. "Are those for the penthouse?"

"Yes," Natasha said. "But I'm not going to be living there for much longer."

Bruce looked surprised. "You're not? You loved that place when we picked it out."

"I did love it then. Not so much now. Besides, the cost of keeping it is too much. It's draining my savings."

Bruce gave her an apologetic smile. "I guess I did leave you high and dry on that, didn't I? I could help you out with it until you move if you like."

"I don't need your help, Bruce," Natasha said firmly. "I don't want your help."

Bruce sighed. "I deserve that."

"You deserve worse," Natasha said. "You're just lucky that I'm a nice lady. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Wanda."

Natasha didn't wait for Bruce to say another word, just spun around and stalked off. She found Wanda about a block away, and she held up her free hand before Wanda could say a word. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright," Wanda said, turning to the flowers in front of her. "I did not find any calla lilies but I found these lovely ones that the vendor tells me are called blackberry lilies. Aren't they beautiful?"

Bruce. Blackberry lilies. The universe was trying to kill Natasha today, she decided, and she wanted to cry. But Natasha Romanoff does not cry. So she plastered a smile on her face and looked down at the flowers. "Yeah, Wanda, they're gorgeous. In fact, let's buy some of them."

*****

**8:29pm – Sunday – Roxxon Bar**

"You know that if Stark ever found out that we were here, he'd kill us, right?" Daisy asked as they walked in the door. "I mean, come on, Simmons. The people who own this place, the AIM Corporation, they are like Stark's mortal enemies."

Simmons stopped and turned around to look at Daisy. "I highly doubt that Stark has mortal enemies."

"Have you ever seen the amount of security that man employs?" Daisy asked. "Of course he has mortal enemies."

"We're sounding like the weirdos right now, talking about mortal enemies. It's like we're analyzing a video game," Fitz said, walking up behind them. "But I agree with Daisy. AIM people are Stark's mortal enemies."

"Oh you two are ridiculous," Simmons said, making her way towards the bar. "We need to able to go out somewhere, and I'm not spending my nights off at the restaurant. Besides, I want to say hello to Maya."

"Maya? As in Maya Hansen Maya? Simmons, you know what happened with her. We're not supposed to talk to her," Fitz said quickly.

"Do you see Stark around to fire us?" Simmons snapped.

"Wait, who is Maya Hansen?" Daisy asked.

"Maya was a perfectly lovely girl who I loved working with until Stark lured her into his bed and it became a fiasco," Simmons said.

"Are we talking about the same Maya Hansen?" Fitz asked as they approached the bar. "Because the Maya Hansen I remember is a complete bitch."

Simmons huffed, but before she could say another word, Daisy interrupted. "Let me do all the talking at the bar, do not say a word."

"You three look like you've walked into the wrong place," the bartender said. "Especially you Skye."

Fitz and Simmons turned to look at Daisy as she just rolled her eyes. "Trust me, Ward, I wish I wasn't here."

"You two know each other?" Simmons asked, and Daisy gave her a death glare.

"Grant Ward," he said, smiling at Simmons. "Skye and I used to work together. And a bit more."

"A bit more," Simmons said, training her eyes on Daisy. "This isn't _him_ , is it?"

"Yes," Daisy said quickly before turning back towards Ward. "Give us a bottle of vodka, Smirnoff will be fine, some pineapple juice, a couple of lemon-lime sodas, and three glasses. I'll mix our drinks."

"Don't even trust me to do my job?" Ward asked, and Daisy's vision narrowed.

"I don't trust you to do anything. Now give me what I asked for."

"You sure you don't want to try the Extremis?" Ward asked, pointing up at a chalkboard that was hanging behind the bar. "It's Roxxon's signature drink."

"Not a chance," Daisy said bitterly. "Now give me what I asked for, Ward before I ask for your manager."

"Coming right up," Ward said, turning around and grabbing a bottle. "It's good to see you, Skye."

"It is not good to see you."

"I didn't realize you were working for Stark now."

"Yeah, well, there's a lot of reasons for why you didn't know that piece of information."

Fitz and Simmons stood there as Daisy and Ward went back and forth, Daisy becoming more irritated by the second.

"Exactly who is this?" Fitz whispered into Simmons's ear. "And why is he calling her Skye?"

"Remember how Daisy was when she started working with us?" Simmons whispered back. "He's why."

"Oh," Fitz whispered. "That's not good."

"No, it's not," Simmons whispered back, following Daisy when she took off with a tray full of all the stuff she'd ordered.

They ended up at a table in a dark corner that had a clear view of the bar. Daisy took the seat where she could view it without obstruction, and then set about mixing them drinks. Simmons had no idea what she ended up drinking, but it was tasty and alcoholic, so she didn't care.

Eventually, Fitz broke the uneasy silence. "He looks like an asshole."

Daisy looked over at Fitz before laughing. "You got it in one, Fitz."

"How did you ever end up with him anyway?" Simmons asked quietly.

Daisy sighed heavily. "First bar I ever got a job at. I was a server, he was the main bartender. Eventually, I got promoted up to the bar once I finished bartending school, and he was my fellow bartender. After the shift ended, he came up to me with a bottle of whiskey and told me I'd learned well. We drank the whiskey, we went back to his place, he got me hooked, and it was a disaster from start to finish. The only decent thing about being with him is that he encouraged me to find my birth parents, which I since have but he doesn't know that which is why he was calling me Skye."

Simmons knew that was not the full story but she just set down her drink and put a hand on Daisy's arm. "I am so sorry, Daisy. I had no idea."

"I know, Simmons," Daisy said. "It's fine. I've moved on. I'm clean and sober and happy and have a lunch date on Wednesday."

"A lunch date? With who?" Simmons was very interested.

"You don't have to answer that," Fitz interjected. "You know if you tell Simmons then she'll tell Widow and then the whole restaurant will know by Tuesday morning."

"Fitz!" Simmons exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

Fitz looked at her over the top of his drink. "Then swear on your grandmother's grave that I'm wrong."

Simmons stared at him for a minute before turning to Daisy. "Okay, so he's not wrong, but I only tell Natasha these things to keep her from trying to set up people who are in relationships outside the restaurant."

Daisy laughed. "I'd hardly call a lunch date a relationship. Also, I don't think Lincoln would mind."

"Lincoln? That's his name then?"

Daisy nodded, a smile on her face. "He's my trainer at the gym. It took him about four months to ask me out, but I think that's a good thing because we are already friends, you know? I am a bit mortified about the fact that he's seen me without makeup in gym clothes covered in sweat, but if this goes anywhere then he's going to see me like that anyway, so I'm trying not to dwell on it."

Fitz laughed. "You ladies worry too much about your appearance. Simmons took twenty minutes just to decide what color shirt to wear tonight."

Daisy glanced at Simmons before turning to Fitz. "And how would you know that, Fitz?"

"I told him," Simmons said quickly. "He stopped by my apartment because it's on the way to the station and I had just finished getting ready so I regaled him with stories about my wardrobe while we walked."

Daisy gave Simmons a look that told her she didn't believe a word of that, but she didn't press for any more. She glanced up to get a look at the bar only to have her view blocked by a woman coming towards them.

"Oh great, here comes Maya," Fitz drawled, making Simmons kick him underneath the table. "Ow!"

"Be nice," Simmons said before turning to face the approaching Maya. "Maya, it's so good to see you!"

Maya stared down her nose at Simmons for a moment before training her eyes on Daisy. "Ward tells me that you didn't leave a way of payment at the bar. I'm going to need one."

"Tell Ward he can fuck off and I'll pay him when I'm done," Daisy snapped.

"Afraid that's not the way it works around here, honey. I need payment now or I'm calling the cops."

Simmons grabbed her purse and fished our her credit card, holding it out to Maya. "Here, put it on this. And you look great, Maya. I love what you've done with your hair."

Maya took the credit card and gave Simmons a look. "I don't even remember your name, hostess, so let's just give up the act, okay?"

Maya turned and walked away, leaving Simmons with a gaping mouth and Fitz and Daisy trying to hide their giggles. Simmons eventually turned back to the table, picked up her drink, and downed it in one gulp. "God, she's such a bitch."

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Fitz said as Daisy took the empty glass and started mixing again. "I honestly don't know what Stark ever saw in her."

"He saw big tits and a willing woman," Daisy said, sliding the glass back to Simmons. "Isn't that what he always sees?"

"Good point," Fitz said. "Now, can we all agree that we should never come to Roxxon ever again?"

"I'm in," Simmons said, holding up her refilled glass.

Daisy held her glass up too. "We've got to find a better place to go to."

"There are thousands of bars in New York City," Fitz said, holding up his drink. "Surely one of them is better than this shithole."

The three clinked their classes and then downed their drinks.

"We've got to remember that we like the dive bars though," Simmons said while Daisy collected the empty glasses and started mixing again. "It's a change from work."

"Well, there are dive bars and then there are shitholes, and I'm with Fitz, this is a shithole," Daisy said. "We're definitely finding a better place next time. Besides, next time is my pick."

"So long as we don't have to go back to Afterlife," Fitz and Simmons said at the same time.

Daisy laughed. "Just for that, I'm making you go to Afterlife."

Fitz and Simmons just groaned.


	8. Chapter 8

**9:54am – Monday**

Wanda walked up to the coffee bar to find Pietro hugging the new espresso machine. "Pietro, honestly, you're making a fool of yourself."

"It's like Christmas came, Wanda," Pietro said, pulling away from the machine. "All I have to do is lightly press the button and it works just fine."

"I am glad that the new machine works but there is no reason to hug a piece of machinery, Pietro. No matter how much easier it makes your life."

"Well, I think there is no reason for you to go out to dinner with a man who is easily twenty years older than you, no matter how much happier it makes your life."

Wanda sighed and reached out, smacking Pietro on the side of his head. "Why can you not just get over this?"

"Because I think he's entirely too old for you!" Pietro exclaimed, bringing his hand up to rub the side of his head. "He's some sort of predator or something. Who is he to have an attraction to a young girl? I think it's inappropriate and wrong."

"I am not a young girl, Pietro," Wanda countered back. "I am fully of age and I am a woman now."

Pietro narrowed his gaze on her at those words. "You slept with him?"

"No, I did not," Wanda said firmly. "I did not need to have sex with him to become a woman."

Pietro looked scandalized. "Then who and when and why the fuck didn't you tell me?"

Wanda sighed heavily. "I didn't tell you because I knew you would react like this. And I'm not answering either of the other questions."

Pietro glared at her. "Wanda, we're supposed to tell each other everything. Twin pact, remember?"

"Yes, well, you never told me about when you lost your virginity," Wanda said. "I had to hear about it from Crystal Amaquelin of all people!"

Pietro dropped his head down to the counter. "Crystal told you about that?"

"All about that," Wanda said, putting her hand on the back of Pietro's head. "She thought that since she was with you, she could confide in me like a sister. I honestly wasn't sure what she was talking about until she started telling me about your intimate encounters."

Pietro refused to lift his head up, and Wanda patted the back of his head. "There is no reason for you to be mortified, Pietro. Crystal was very pleased with you as a lover."

"Whoa," came Maria's voice as she walked up behind Pietro. "What on earth are you two talking about today?"

"Past sexual experiences," Wanda said calmly while Pietro groaned. "I believe Pietro is not happy that I know about some of his."

"You know about it in detail," Pietro moaned, his head still on the counter. "Detail, Wanda."

"Trust me, Pietro, I wish I did not," Wanda said, patting him on the head. "He is also not happy about my date with Jarvis on Saturday night."

"I just think he's way too old for you and that it's creepy," Pietro said, raising his head up to look at Maria. "Do you agree with me, Agent Hill?"

"Vision is a good looking man, Pietro, so I'm not surprised that Wanda has found herself attracted to him. Also, older men can be really sexy, and I would say that Vision is among that group, even though he's not older to me. But he is older to Wanda, and so, therefore, I would count him as a sexy older man," Maria said, smiling. "I'm happy you finally went on a date with him, Wanda."

"So am I, Agent Hill," Wanda said, smiling. "He even wants to have dinner again sometime."

Maria's smile turned into a grin. "Wonderful."

"It's not wonderful!" Pietro cried out. "He is a predator!"

"Who is a predator?" Everyone looked up to see Jarvis standing there, a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

"No one," Wanda said, taking a step closer to him. "It is wonderful to see you, Jarvis."

"And the same to you, Wanda," Jarvis said, holding out the bouquet. "These are for you. White camellias. I hope that you like them."

Wanda brought them up to her nose and sniffed. "They smell heavenly and are just as beautiful. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jarvis said, and Pietro threw up his hands.

"I can't watch this."

Everyone watched as he stalked into the back of the restaurant and Wanda sighed. "He is getting used to the idea of us going out on dates very slowly."

"I understand," Jarvis said. "You are very young and to him, I am probably very old. But I still maintain my promise to be respectful and cautious at all times."

"I know that," Wanda said. "Pietro does not. But he will come around, I am sure."

Jarvis smiled at her before looking at his watch. "I must be off. Mr. Stark has meetings all day today to make the arrangements for Ms. Potts to take over the CEO position at Stark Industries and I'm running late now. Wanda, I will call you tonight, if that's alright."

"That is fine, Jarvis," Wanda said, smiling. "You better go."

"Right," Jarvis said, giving everyone a polite nod. "Good day."

"Stark is making Pepper CEO? Wow." Maria walked over to the counter that Pietro had abandoned while Wanda watched Jarvis walk out of the restaurant. "He seems rather smitten with you."

"I hope he is," Wanda said, beaming down at the flowers. "White camellias. Tell me, Agent Hill, do you know much about the language of flowers?"

"Can't say that I do," Maria said.

"Widow has been teaching me about it," Wanda said, looking over at her. "When you give someone white camellias it means you find them adorable. Jarvis finds me adorable."

"Adorable is a good thing," Maria said.

"Adorable is a very good thing," Wanda said, grinning. "Is there something in the back that I can put these in with some water so they aren't wilted by the time I get home?"

Maria smiled back at her. "I think we can find something. Come on, let's go convince your brother to get back to work."

*****

**12:08am – Tuesday**

"So how is this Sigyn of yours, Lokes? Ever going to bring her around?" Darcy asked.

"Wait a minute, Sigyn? You have an actual girlfriend named Sigyn?" Daisy asked from where she was behind the bar. "Loki and Sigyn, just like in the mythology."

"Yes, my girlfriend's name is Sigyn," Loki said with some pride. "She is a beautiful woman who I am going to dutifully marry someday and have an enormous amount of children with. And no, I will never be chained up with the entrails of my son while Sigyn holds a bowl over my head to catch the venom of a serpent."

"I swear to God, you and the weirdos sound like you belong to some sort of mythological cult," Daisy said, wiping down the bar.

"We do," Loki said automatically, and both Darcy and Daisy stared at him like he was crazy. "What? We do."

"Explain yourself," Darcy said seriously.

Loki just sighed. "All of our parents are old college friends who decided in the name of their passionate belief in the Norse mythological gods that they would become the gods living here on Midgard, as they now call Earth. My father was appointed to be Odin, and my mother, therefore, became Frigg, but because she didn't like the sound of that, an A was added to the end and she is known as Frigga. The others took on different names.

"My older brothers were therefore named Thor, Baldr, Víðarr, and Váli. But when a fifth son came along, they didn't know what to call me. So they settled on the name of the jötunn Loki because they liked it. I spent the first six years of my life believing I was a frost giant who had been rescued by Odin and Frigga and brought up next to my brothers because of how deeply devoted my parents are to this mythological shit. And yes, Sigyn's parents are part of it, and yes, Sigyn is Loki's wife in the mythology and yes, I am expected to marry her. The only good thing about it all is that I love Sigyn deeply and am looking forward to the day when I can call her my wife. Does that sum up everything for you?"

Daisy stared at him open-mouthed while Darcy shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. "So you mean to tell me that there are actually people walking around the streets of New York City who believe they are the gods and goddesses of Norse mythology?"

"Yes," Loki said seriously. "Thor's all bought into it. Why do you think he talks so strangely? My parents and other brothers speak in the same manner. I am the only one who tries to act like the completely normal human that I am, no matter how much my parents always wanted to paint me blue to be my true self when it came to Halloween."

"Oh my God, this is just too good to be true," Darcy said, laughing. "A Norse mythological cult. Of course there would be one, and of course, it would be associated with the weirdos. How funny."

"Wait, what about Quill? He's got a perfectly normal name despite having an utterly ridiculous nickname and a strange group of friends," Daisy said.

"Peter Quill is a strange, strange man," Loki said. "His mother Meredith is a lovely woman, but his father, well, let's say he's a little too into a certain online roleplaying game where he is living planet named Ego with a human avatar. He got Peter hooked on it, and Peter became Star-Lord. He's got a bunch of friends who call themselves equally weird names and have equally weird appearances and the group refers to itself as the Guardians of the Galaxy. They'll all be descending upon here in a couple of weeks for some comic book convention, so I'm sure you'll meet them."

"This is insane," Darcy declared. "A mythological cult and people believing that they're characters from a game? How fucking nerdy are all these people you hang out with? Because like, I thought I was a nerd, you know? Poli-Sci major, helping out an astrophysicist for a science credit, and able to quote practically every good movie there's ever been. But I'm nowhere near as nerdy as these people appear to be."

"Darcy, though you will probably not believe me, our evenings here together at the bar in this restaurant are some of the most normal nights of my life," Loki said before turning to Daisy. "Have you cut them off yet?"

Daisy looked up at the clock. "Last call was over an hour ago, so yeah, they're cut off."

"Good," Loki said, looking over his shoulder at the group, who were arm in arm and singing a drinking song that sounded like it was from the Anglo-Saxon days while the rest of the restaurant just stared at them in disbelief. "Thankfully there are not that many people left to see how stupid they're being."

"Oh, plenty of people are going to see how stupid they're being," Darcy said, holding up her phone. "This I've got to get on YouTube. It might even go viral."

Loki laughed. "Please send me the link when you get it on there. I shall enjoy showing it to Mother and Father."

"Will do," Darcy said as Clint came down to their end of the bar.

"I see the weirdos are living up to their name tonight," he said.

"They are weirder than you could ever possibly imagine," Daisy said. "Wait till I tell you what Loki told me on the train tonight."

"I will wait with bated breath," Clint said before taking one of the bundles of money in his hand and giving it to Daisy. "Your tips tonight, Quake."

"Don't fucking call me Quake," Daisy said, taking the money and flipping through it. "Yes, enough to pay my electric bill and for lunch with Lincoln."

"Lincoln? Your trainer Lincoln?" Clint asked.

Daisy sighed. "I'll tell you about that on the train too, but only if you tell me why Bobbi was so freaking depressed tonight."

"I do not have an answer to that," Clint lied, shaking his head. "I'm worried about her."

"Yeah, well, so is Hunter. If he didn't have so much work to do for some case he has to testify in court about tomorrow, he would have stuck around to try and talk it out of her. Apparently, he's always been able to do that."

Clint sighed and put his arm around Daisy's shoulders. "I'm not sure he has, Quake. Finish cleanup. I'll get Steve to get the weirdos and the stragglers out of here so we can all go home."

"That would be great, Hawkeye," Daisy called out as Clint walked away. "And don't fucking call me Quake!"


	9. Chapter 9

**6:01am – Tuesday**

"Good morning, Dr. Cho," Wanda said, smiling at her as she walked through the door. "How are you today?"

"To tell you the truth, Wanda, I'm sick of grading papers," Helen Cho said, sitting down at her usual table. "I never should have agreed to teach this many classes."

"What type of classes do you teach, Dr. Cho?" Wanda asked as she grabbed a menu and walked over.

"Variations of biochemistry," Helen said. "To be honest, I'd rather just stick to my research."

"What are you researching?"

"I'm trying to come up with a way to artificially create human tissue," Helen said. "This could be used for healing wounded people at hospitals, and if I can get the regeneration cradle to work, perhaps even healing the mortally wounded. But I'm a long way off from both of those goals at the moment because most of my time is now spent grading homework and listening to students complain about the workload."

"It sounds very interesting and very tiring," Wanda said.

"It is," Helen said, smiling up at her. "You look happy today, Wanda. Happier than usual."

"I had a very good week last week," Wanda said, smiling. "And it is setting up to be a very good week this week too."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that." Helen looked at the menu for a moment. "Eggs Benedict, light on the hollandaise sauce, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee."

Wanda scribbled all that into her order book and smiled. "Be out shortly."

Helen handed her the menu and Wanda walked over to the coffee bar, frowning at Pietro. "Stop using your phone and get back to work."

"Do you see anyone here ordering coffee?" Pietro said, looking up from the phone. "Besides, I'm having an important conversation."

"With who?"

"I don't have to answer that."

Wanda narrowed her gaze. "Pietro."

Pietro sighed heavily. "Fine. It's Crystal. And I don't want to hear any more about it."

Wanda just shook her head. "We had a conversation about this, Pietro. You agreed that she is no longer good for you. And you know the reasons why."

"She has something important to tell me," Pietro said, shifting his gaze back to the phone. "And I'm going  
to hear her out."

"Pietro, the last time she had something important to tell you, she tried to get you to take cocaine."

"And I didn't do it," Pietro snapped. "And I'm not going to do it if she tries it again. But I just have this feeling that I need to hear what she has to say, Wanda."

"Fine, but I'm going with you."

"No," Pietro practically shouted. "You most certainly are not. Whatever this is, it's between me and Crystal."

"Pietro."

"I'm serious, Wanda. This does not concern you. If it needs to concern you, I will tell you."

Wanda sighed heavily and reached for her order book, looking at it. "Whatever. You will end up telling me whatever happens in the end. You always do. But I still say this is a mistake."

"Say whatever you want. Now get back to work."

"Unlike you, I am working," Wanda said. "I need a cup of coffee for Dr. Cho, and a mocha latte for table twenty."

Pietro typed at his phone for a few more moments before slipping it back in his pocket. "Why didn't you lead off with that? I would have made them by now."

"Just make the coffee before I come behind the counter and hit you," Wanda snapped, making Maria's eyebrows raise as she walked up behind her.

"Tension between the twins? This is practically unheard of."

"Pietro is stupidly going to meet his druggie ex-girlfriend and he won't listen to me when I tell him this is a bad idea."

"That's not true," Pietro said, turning to the espresso machine. "Crystal is not a druggie."

"Well, we're going to disagree about that too," Wanda said. "She tried to get you to do drugs."

"And if you think she's the only person we know who does some drugs every once and awhile, you're crazy," Pietro countered.

Wanda put her hands on her hips. "I don't believe that. Name one other."

"Maximus smokes weed every day after he gets home from work, Medusa and Black are the ones that got Crystal into the drugs in the first place, and Karnak does some hardcore stuff that Crystal's even afraid to try." Wanda stayed silent so Pietro looked over at her and saw her eyes were wide. "Seriously, Wanda. Like all of my friends are into it in some way or another."

"You better not be!" Wanda finally managed to say. "You must not be lying to me about this!"

"I'm not," Pietro said calmly, setting a couple of cups on a tray in front of her. "I promise. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop being friends with my friends either."

"I hate your friends anyway," Wanda said, picking up the tray and walking off.

Pietro watched her go then turned to Maria and shook his head. "She's too naïve. And that is why I worry even more about the intentions of Jarvis or Vision or whatever the fuck his name is."

Maria leaned up against the counter and smiled at him. "Actually, I think the fact that she's dating Jarvis should be a comfort for you. He's exactly the kind of guy a girl like Wanda needs."

"You think?"

"Definitely," Maria said, pushing off the counter as a group approached the bar. "Now quit texting your girlfriend and get back to work."

"Yes, Agent Hill."

*****

**8:36pm – Tuesday**

Fitz walked up to the bar and touched Bobbi on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mockingbird, but Mr. Slattery is here again and has requested your service."

Bobbi groaned and glanced over her shoulder at where Trevor Slattery, D-listed commercials actor, sat looking over at her. He waved and Bobbi immediately turned her head back around, closing her eyes and counting to ten. "I hate that man."

"I know you do," Fitz said. "But Coulson said there's nothing we can do unless he starts to violate the security policies, which he hasn't. So it's your table."

Bobbi nodded as Fitz walked away, and Hunter came up to the bar to stand next to her. "Bob, you're pale."

"The most disgusting patron I have is here, and I have to go pretend to be nice to him till closing time because that's how long he will stay," Bobbi said through gritted teeth. "He's infatuated with me, and fuck, I didn't bring my ring with me tonight."

Hunter gave her a confused look. "Ring?"

"I always wear my wedding ring when I go to his table," Bobbi admitted. "I think it keeps him a little more in check. If he doesn't see it, he's going to ask about it, and I can't tell him I'm divorced because that will just make him leer at me even more."

"Your rings are at the jewelry store being repaired because one of the diamonds came loose and the other one needed to be cleaned. If he asks about your marriage, just point to me and say I'm your husband. If I need to come over there, I will."

Bobbi looked over at Hunter. "You'd do that for me?"

"I'd do anything for you," Hunter said softly. "In fact, come here."

Bobbi was confused, but Hunter embraced her and gave her a deep kiss, the kind that reminded her of everything she was missing out on. Then he let go of her, smiled, and went back to work.

Bobbi needed a minute to compose herself before she headed to Slattery's table. "Good evening, Mr. Slattery. What drink can I start you off with?"

"Darling, darling Mockingbird," Slattery said. "How many times must I tell you to call me Trevor, love?"

Bobbi bit her tongue before smiling. "What can I get you to drink, Trevor?"

"That's a good girl. Now, who was the man over there? He got rather intimate with you," Slattery said, looking Bobbi up and down.

Bobbi took a deep breath, glanced over at Hunter, and smiled for real. "He's my husband, Trevor. He's allowed to get that intimate with me."

Slattery stared over at Hunter for a moment. "Whiskey, straight up," he said curtly, and Bobbi wrote that down quickly.

"Be right back." Bobbi made her way over to the bar, handed the slip to Daisy and glanced over at Hunter.

"So you going to tell me what that kiss was all about?" Daisy asked as she reached for the whiskey.

"No," Bobbi said, sighing. "But it was a good kiss."

"Widow loved it," Daisy added.

"Great," Bobbi groaned, "She's already intent on bringing us back together. Now she probably thinks that it's worked a little."

Daisy set the drink on Bobbi's tray before glancing across the room. "Slattery again?"

"Unfortunately," Bobbi said, picking up the tray. "Tell Widow it was nothing."

"She's not going to believe that!" Daisy called after her.

Bobbi made her way back to Slattery's table and set his drink down. "Can I start you off with an appetizer tonight, Trevor?"

"Just one moment," Slattery said, looking across the restaurant and waving at Hunter. "Excuse me, sir, could you come here for a moment?"

Hunter started making his way over to the table and Bobbi about died. This was not going well.

"What do you need, Mr. Slattery?" Hunter asked as he walked up.

"Oh, you've told him about me," Slattery said, leering at Bobbi once more. "Listen, I just wanted to say that you better take good care of my beloved Mockingbird. She's very special to me, and I need her kept happy so she can soar like the pretty bird that she is."

"Doing my best at that," Hunter said, looking over at Bobbi. "She really is a pretty bird."

"I am not a bird," Bobbi said, turning back to the table. "Trevor? Appetizer?"

"Spinach and artichoke dip," Slattery said, "And make sure that it's as hot as you are."

Hunter stepped forward and drew Slattery's attention to him. "I'd prefer that you not talk about my wife like that if you don't mind."

"I'm just complimenting her," Slattery said.

"No, you're hitting on her," Hunter pointed out. "And I don't like that. She's my wife."

"Oh is she now?" came Natasha's voice as she walked behind them, and Bobbi decided she'd had enough of this.

"It'll be right out, Trevor," Bobbi said, grabbing Hunter by the elbow and dragging him away from the table. Once she dropped off the order at the kitchen, she headed for the back door, opening it and pulling Hunter into the alley with her.

"Bob? What are we doing out here?"

"This," Bobbi said, grabbing Hunter and pulling him into a deep kiss. Hunter kissed her back as good as he got, running his hands all over Bobbi's back. It had been so long since Bobbi took the initiative to kiss him like this, and he was thrilled that they seemed to be getting somewhere.

Then Bobbi pushed him away. "I had an affair with Mack."

Hunter stumbled backward. "What?"

"After we found out that I couldn't have children," Bobbi said sadly. "He said what I needed to hear, and I made a bad decision. And I kept making a bad decision until I filed for divorce. I ended it then. I didn't divorce you because I didn't trust you, Hunter. I divorced you because you couldn't trust me."

Hunter just stood there as Bobbi walked back inside, letting the words roll over and over in his mind. He jumped when the door opened, sighing when he saw it was just Steve.

"Coulson said get back inside and get back to work," Steve said, and Hunter nodded.

Work would at least keep him occupied enough to not think about what Bobbi had just told him. But after work, he was going to call Mack. Definitely.


	10. Chapter 10

**10:09am – Wednesday**

Natasha sat in a corner booth, pouring over the paperwork that Tony had pushed across the table at her. "So basically you're saying that if I sign this confidentiality agreement stating I'll never speak about what I see and hear inside the Tower except with other Tower residents, then you'll give me an _entire floor_ to myself, will furnish it however I want, and you'll let me live there rent free for the rest of my life?"

Tony leaned back in his seat and reached for his cup of coffee. "Basically. It's a small price to ask, really."

"It's a really small price to ask," Natasha said, laughing. "Are you insane?"

"Technically no, although I think Pepper sometimes believes otherwise."

Natasha set the paperwork down. "You made her CEO."

"She'll be a better CEO than I ever was," Tony said, sipping from his cup. "She should have succeeded Obadiah, not me."

Natasha just shook her head. "I'm not denying that Ms. Potts is a brilliant woman, but I have to say, given what I've heard about you from her, I'm surprised you think that."

Tony sighed. "Is this going to be part of you living at the Tower? Gossip hour with Black Widow?"

"Do you mind?"

"So long as I get all the gossip from here, I'm up for it," Tony said, setting his cup down. "Look, when Obadiah hired Pepper, I thought she was nothing more than a pretty girl in a skirt. But then I started dealing with her and I realized that a, she was really good at her job and b, she was far more than just a pretty girl in a skirt. Obadiah wanted to kill me when I started hitting on her, and I think she did too, but then an event happened which will not be mentioned, and she realized I was being sincere. I think the world of her, Widow. But I don't think I can give her want she wants."

"And what does she want?" Natasha asked softly.

"A house in the country with a white picket fence and a barn, two point five kids running around it. Exactly what Bruce wanted with you," Tony said, reaching out and grasping Natasha's hand. "If I had any idea he was going to do that to you, I never would have asked him to come in on the business. I swear it."

Natasha took a deep breath. "Bruce wanted all that with me?"

"You two never talked about it?" Tony asked. "Because he mentioned it all the time."

Natasha took another deep breath. "Doesn't matter now."

"Except for the fact that it does," Tony said, reaching for his cup again. "Shit, I fuck everything up for people. No one should trust me with anything."

"It's not your fault," Natasha said after a moment. "It's his moral dilemma, not yours."

"But he has the moral dilemma because of me," Tony said, taking a long sip. "You know, if you threatened to quit and go work somewhere like Roxxon, he might come around."

"No, I think he'd be thrilled because I gave in to his demand to seek employment elsewhere and he would, therefore, get me back," Natasha said, shaking her head. "Bruce and I are at a stalemate and it's going to stay that way."

Tony just sighed. "Well, if you ever do want to try it, I think I've got Bruce convinced that Roxxon is hell on Earth and that AIM can't be trusted."

Natasha tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "How is he?"

"Great, really," Tony said. "He loves his lab, has done more for Stark Industries than I know he ever expected to. He's being fairly compensated for his work for the first time in his life, and he doesn't know how to handle the fact that he has all this money suddenly. That's why I suggested investing in this place. It would give him something to do with the money than just stare at his bank balance and question whether it was right or not. If he was an investor, then he'd feel like he was a part of something, a part of a moneymaking machine, which this baby is. I thought it would help, not hurt."

"I don't think he was very happy to hear that I'm giving up the penthouse."

"That's just because he got that place for you. He wanted you to have the very best," Tony said, taking another sip of his coffee. "He's perfectly happy in his studio apartment in Harlem."

Natasha shook her head. "He said we should go apartment hunting and suddenly we're looking at all these expensive as hell ones in all these fancy buildings, and I just thought he wanted a change now that he could afford a place like that. Of course, he did it for me. I should have known."

"Do you blame him? I mean, I haven't heard the whole story but even I know you were sleeping on a bench in Central Park before you got a job here."

Natasha sighed. "I've had a rough life, yes, but I did not need a penthouse in Manhattan to make it all go away."

"I'm sure you didn't. I'm just telling you that he thought you did." Tony took a deep breath. "What are you going to do when he sells the penthouse and tries to give you half the money? Because I know that's what he'll do."

"There is no way I deserve a single penny of that money, and he's just going to have to deal with that." Natasha picked up the paperwork and stared at it again. "I still can't believe you're willing to do this."

"I just want to do right by the world for once in my sorry ass life," Tony said, pushing a pen across the table. "I did right by the twins, and I want to do right by you too. Especially since I fucked up your life with Bruce."

Natasha knew she should correct him again, that it wasn't his fault but Bruce's, but she didn't. Instead, she picked up the pen, flipped to the relevant page, and signed her name on the line. Living at Stark Tower wasn't ideal, but she didn't get to have her ideal situation. Not anymore.

She put the pen on top of the paperwork and slid it back across the table. "So, when can I move in?"

*****

**7:12pm – Wednesday**

"Simmons!" Thor's voice came booming into the lobby as he walked through the door. "We have come to feast and drink!"

Simmons just nodded and started looking at the table chart. "Just give me a minute to figure out where to put the eight of you."

"Fourteen!" Thor boasted. "We have brought guests to feast and drink as well!"

Simmons sighed and glanced back at the table chart, looking through the various sections before determining she was going to have to put them in the middle of everyone. It wasn't ideal, but it was all that was available. She reached over to the stack of menus and counted out fourteen, then looked up with a smile on her face. "Follow me."

"Hey, we've been waiting for half an hour!" Simmons heard someone in the lobby call out, but Fitz's voice came to her and she decided to just let him take care of it. Besides, they both knew it was best to seat the weirdos immediately.

Once she had shown them to their very large table and distributed the menus, she walked over to the bar and smiled at Natasha. "I know it's Bobbi's turn but since it's her night off..."

Natasha looked behind her at the weirdos and then back at Simmons. "Really?"

"It was Hunter's turn last time," Simmons said gently. "I really don't want the idiot teenager that's working tonight because Bobbi isn't to take the table. They'll eat him alive."

Natasha sighed deeply but nodded. "Fine, I'll take it."

"Thank you," Simmons said before disappearing back to the lobby.

Natasha grabbed her order book out of her apron and walked over to the table, resisting the urge to roll her eyes when she saw Professor Selvig was among their midst again. How he could stand them was beyond her comprehension. "Evening everyone. Have we decided upon drinks?"

"Widow!" Thor boomed. "First you must meet our foreign friends!"

At the word foreign, Natasha immediately prayed that none of them were Russian. "Well, then, let's get with the introductions."

"You know the mighty professor, of course."

"Good evening, Professor Selvig."

"Good evening, Natasha," Selvig said before returning to his conversation with Jane.

"You also know of Lady Sif and The Warriors Three!"

That nickname made a hell of lot more sense ever since Loki had spilled about the Norse mythological cult.

"Of course."

"And the all-seeing Heimdall!"

Natasha felt like an ambassador at a foreign court in medieval times being introduced and reintroduced to everyone at court. "Heimdall."

"Our dear friend Star-Lord has brought some of his own kind," Thor said next. "I think he shall do the introductions."

Peter grinned at her. "Those two are Gamora and Nebula. They are sisters and they know Ronan the Accuser."

Nebula's head was completely shaved, and _Ronan the Accuser_? Natasha bit back a laugh as she realized one of the nighttime cooks was one of Quill's loser friends. "Hello."

"This here is Drax the Destroyer," Peter said, pointing to the tattooed man next to Volstagg. "And these two are Rocket and Groot."

Natasha really, really should be paid more for this. "Nice to meet all of you. Now, about those drinks. Thor, what do we have?"

After listening to Thor list off pretty much the entire drinks menu, Natasha got the hell away from them and headed for the bar. She handed the slip over to Clint and groaned. "This is going to be a long night."

Clint took a good look at the slip. "For you and me both. Did they order the entire menu?"

"Sounded like it," Natasha said, leaning against the bar. "They brought friends. Foreign friends. And yet they all sound American."

"They're probably Quill's gaming friends," Clint said, setting the slip down only to realize there was more written on the other side. "For fuck's sake, how much can these people drink?"

"I don't want to know the answer to that," Natasha said. "Where's Daisy?"

"Called in," Clint said. "She told Coulson she had food poisoning from her lunch with Lincoln yesterday."

"More like she was still at Lincoln's and didn't feel like coming to work," Natasha laughed. "Damn, and I didn't get a chance to quiz her about the date either."

"Yes, because that's the problem," Clint said, shaking his head as he started to work on the list. "Laura wants to know if you're coming over this weekend."

"I'm moving this weekend actually," Natasha said, hoping Clint wouldn't ask any more about it.

"You need some help?"

"No, I think I got it," Natasha said, swallowing hard. "The place I'm moving to is sending people to help me."

Clint glanced up at that. "What the hell kind of place is this? I've never heard of a building helping you move into it before."

Natasha cursed under her breath because she knew she had to tell him at some point. "It's the Tower."

"What tower? Do you know how many towers there are in this city?"

Natasha took a deep breath. "Yes, but only one with a big sign that says Stark on it."

Clint stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "You're moving into Stark Tower?"

"Stark made me an offer I couldn't refuse," Natasha said. "My own floor, he furnishes it, I live there rent-free. You know what I've been through the last few months with the penthouse, and you know what my life was life before that. This is someone walking in and saying, 'You know all those problems you have? Let me fix them with the stroke of my magic wand.' I couldn't say no to it."

"I'm not judging you," Clint said seriously, turning back to the drinks. "I just think the last place I would want to be living is with my boss."

"Yeah, but you have a wife and kids and the whole suburbs thing going on."

"I would hardly call where I live the suburbs, but go on."

"You have them to think about. I only have to think about myself."

"What about Bruce?" Clint asked softly. "He works there."

"But he doesn't live there," Natasha said. "I asked Stark not to tell him I was moving in. Ideally, we'll never see each other."

"That's not ideal."

"But it's the way it has to be."

Clint reached for a shaker while shaking his head. "Nat, I really think you guys could work it out."

"Yeah, well, I don't," Natasha said. "Not anymore. Now stop judging me and make my drinks."

"Not judging you, Widow."

"Totally judging me, Hawkeye."


	11. Chapter 11

**8:15am – Thursday**

Wanda looked up when the door opened, and a pretty blonde woman walked in with an obviously blind man. Wanda had never dealt with the blind before, but she wasn't sure it was appropriate not to bring them a menu, so she grabbed two and headed over to the table they sat down at. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Scarlet Witch," said the blind man, and Wanda took a step back. The man laughed and held up a hand. "I just know you're the morning server."

"How do you know that?" Wanda asked. Was this man clairvoyant?

"Foggy," the man said, putting his hand down and turning towards the woman. "Karen, will you explain while I read the menu?"

Karen laughed. "Hi, Wanda. I'm Karen Page and this is my boss Matt Murdock. We're friends of Foggy's. It's been a long time since we've been in here, but Foggy promised that the place had cleaned up its act and that Matt would not be insulted this time."

"Yes, I have been told that the restaurant used to be very unruly," Wanda said, smiling at her. "But who is Foggy?"

Matt tilted his head to the side for a moment, then burst out laughing. "He's going by his real name here! I can hear them in the kitchen!"

Karen started laughing too while Wanda wondered how on earth he could hear in the kitchen. "The kitchen?"

"Foggy is one of your short order cooks," Karen said. "I believe you probably know him better as Franklin."

Wanda's eyes widened. "Franklin's nickname is Foggy?"

"You didn't know that?" came Pietro's voice from the coffee bar. "Everyone knows that!"

"Then why don't we use it?" Wanda called back to him.

"Because he's afraid Stark will hear it and then it'll turn into something else!"

Matt and Karen laughed again. "Just for that, I'm making sure Stark knows his nickname is Foggy," Matt said, setting down the menu. "Karen, are you ready to order? The menu is the same."

"How do you know that?" Wanda asked, then immediately brought her hand to her mouth. "I'm so sorry. I should not have said that."

Matt only smiled. "No need to apologize. And I know it because Foggy told me."

Wanda just nodded and grabbed her order book, taking down their orders. She walked away and went past the coffee bar and into the kitchen, sticking up the ticket on the line. "Order for you, Foggy."

"Fog—Witch! Why are you calling me that?"

"Because it is your nickname," Wanda said politely. "It is nice if I learn these things myself instead of from my customers."

The man by the grill groaned. "Matt and Karen are here, aren't they?"

"Yes," Wanda said, "they are. You should go see them when you get a moment. But not until their order is done."

"Scarlet Witch, always the taskmaster," Foggy said.

"Just for that, I'm definitely no longer calling you Franklin," Wanda said as she walked out of the kitchen. She made her way behind the coffee bar and came to a stop next to Pietro. "We have an issue."

"Wanda, we have ten million issues. What is this one?"

Wanda smacked Pietro on the shoulder. "I saw Ms. Potts leaving the Tower around midnight the other night."

"Why is this our issue?"

"Because she saw me and asked me not to tell Mr. Stark," Wanda said. "I don't feel that we should be keeping secrets from Mr. Stark. I am afraid of both our employment status and our living situation changing should he find out that we did."

Pietro turned so he was leaning with his back up against the counter. "You are worried over nothing. And no, we should not tell Mr. Stark. Ms. Potts is allowed to have secrets from him."

"Can I at least tell you about it?"

"It's nothing."

"Pietro."

"Fine."

"I was in the common area around midnight," Wanda said. "Ms. Potts walked into it wearing a very nice blue dress that fell just above her knee, and I complimented her on it because she looked lovely in it."

"I'm sure this is important," Pietro interjected.

"Pietro."

Pietro huffed and nodded his head for her to continue.

"I assumed that she would be going up to the floor she shares with Mr. Stark to retire for the evening, but when she went to the elevator, she pressed the down button instead of up. This confused me because of course their floor is above the common area, and I pointed out to her that she pushed the wrong button," Wanda said. "And then she said that she didn't, she had something to do, and would I please not tell Mr. Stark that she was leaving. Mr. Stark was still in his lab, apparently. I told her I would not, but I feel guilty because Mr. Stark has given us so much and I feel that I should not be keeping secrets from him."

"And as I said before, it's nothing."

"Clearly you do not understand important things when you are told them," Wanda said, exasperated. "I feel as though I should tell Mr. Stark but I do not want to upset Ms. Potts either since I told her I would not tell him."

"It's simple, Wanda. Don't tell him."

"But this feels like something I should tell him."

"Look, Wanda, I'll say it again. Ms. Potts is allowed to have secrets from Mr. Stark. And I'm sure she will tell him in good time what it was all about. Until then, hush and go work."

"If that is what you think," Wanda said, walking away from him and passing Foggy as he emerged from the kitchen with two plates. He made his way over to the table where Matt and Karen were, set their plates down, and pulled out a chair and sat down.

"You two have just made my life hell."

"I thought that being called Franklin made your life hell," Matt said, reaching for his fork. "But please, go on."

"You don't know how Stark is with these nicknames, Matt."

"He calls me Daredevil," Matt said, cutting into his omelette. "Or sometimes even the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. So yes, I know how Stark is with these nicknames."

Foggy looked over at Karen. "He knows Stark?"

"Mr. Stark has been one of our clients for awhile," Karen said. "Matt represents him on matters pertaining to Hell's Kitchen, mostly, but he's on retainer at Stark Industries."

Foggy reached out and smacked Matt on the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because I knew it would be weird for you."

"It's completely weird for me," Foggy said. "You're working for my boss, Matt."

"He could be your boss in a different way," Matt said, and Foggy slammed his hand down on the table.

"Not a word about that."

"But..."

"I said not a word about that," Foggy warned, looking over at Karen. "Karen, tell him how serious I'm being."

"He looks very serious," Karen said, half laughing. "Come on, Foggy."

"You know, I came out here to be polite and see my friends, but now I'm going to go back to work and you are no longer my friends," Foggy said, standing up.

"Foggy, calm down. I'd never try to make you go back to Landman and Zack. Trust me, I'm glad to be out of there," Matt said. "By the way, did you make this omelette? Because it's really good."

"Yes, I did, and I am entirely more happy in that kitchen than I ever was at Landman and Zack. And what the hell do you mean you're out of there?"

"Putting in my notice today," Matt said, smiling. "Going out on my own. I just think that Nelson and Murdock sounds a lot better than just Murdock."

"Nelson and Murdock," Foggy said, sitting back down. "You want me to quit my job and join your own law practice?"

"I'm going to need your help, Foggy," Matt said seriously. "Karen already got us our first client, and I need another lawyer to help me with it."

"Who is your first client?"

"Frank Castle."

Foggy's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "You're going to defend Frank Castle? Seriously?"

"Seriously," Matt said. "Tell him, Karen."

Karen looked over at Foggy and nodded. "I was in the new office space getting it all set up, and it already says Murdock Law Office on the door, and, well, Frank Castle came in and started talking to me about his defense and how he needs a good lawyer and he heard Matt was the best in Hell's Kitchen. Reyes is the D.A. who is prosecuting the trial, and well, there's a lot of stuff we have to get done, Foggy, but Matt technically can't work on the case until he's through with Landman and Zack in two weeks, and we need another lawyer. There's no one else in Hell's Kitchen, or for that matter, in all of New York City, that Matt trusts more than you."

Foggy sighed heavily. "I can't believe you got the Frank Castle case."

"Foggy, he's not guilty," Karen said. "His family was killed in the incident at the carousel, but he's not the one who killed them. It's a huge coverup by the D.A. because the Blacksmith is involved and they are trying to play down the existence of him. Or her. They don't want people to know there's a serial killer on the loose."

"Jesus," Foggy said, sighing again. "Why do you always know the things to say to me to make me do things I don't necessarily want to do?"

"Foggy, you always wanted to be part of a small law practice," Matt said. "You didn't want to go out on your own, and you wanted to go out on your own with me but I wasn't ready to leave Landman and Zack. Well, now I am, and I'm asking you to come with me. Equal partners."

"I'll think about it," Foggy said, standing up again. "I have to get back to work."

"I'll give you two days," Matt said. "Now let me and Karen eat in peace."

"You better leave Witch a good tip!" Foggy called out as he walked away. "Rich fucking bastard."

Matt just laughed.

**********

**7:12pm – Friday**

Fitz looked up when the door opened, prepared to greet the new customers, but the words died on his lips when he saw who it was. "What are you doing here?"

Ward looked up and saw Fitz standing there, smiled, and walked over to him. "You're one of Skye's friends."

"Yes, I am," Fitz said firmly. "And you're an asshole."

"Aw, is that what she told you?" Ward asked, looking around the restaurant before spotting Daisy behind the bar. "I'll just be sitting at the bar tonight and it looks like there are a few empty seats, so I'll just pick one."

Fitz yelped when Ward clapped hard on his shoulder as he walked past, but he knew he wouldn't get to the bar before Ward did. He just hoped that Daisy would believe him later when he had to explain to her how Ward got past him.

Daisy was at the opposite end of the bar when Ward sat down, and Clint walked up to him. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Bourbon, straight up," Ward said, nodding down at Daisy. "You know her well?"

"Daisy?" Clint nodded as he reached for the bottle of bourbon. "She's worked here for several years now. Why? You know her?"

"You could say that," Ward said, smiling when a glass of bourbon was set in front of him. "Thanks."

"Not a problem," Clint said, walking down to the other end of the bar. "Hey, Daisy?"

"What, Barton?"

"There's a guy down at my end of the bar who says he knows you."

Daisy looked up, saw Ward, and immediately dropped down to the floor.

Clint crouched down next to her. "Why are we hiding behind the bar?"

"Because that's Ward," Daisy said. "Grant Ward."

"I don't know who Grant Ward is, Daisy."

"It's _him_ , okay? _Him_ , Clint."

Clint nodded and put a supportive hand on Daisy's shoulder. "I'll try to get Steve to make him leave."

"Thank you," Daisy said, taking a deep breath before standing back up.

Clint stood as well and ducked under the end of the bar, walking over to the security center where Steve was. "Hey, Rogers?"

"What can I do for you, Clint?" Steve said, his eyes sweeping the room. "There doesn't appear to be any trouble at the moment."

"See that guy at my end of the bar? Dark hair, leather jacket?"

"Yeah?"

"That's Daisy's ex-boyfriend. You know, _him_."

Steve nodded in understanding. "I'll keep an eye on him. A close one."

"Do you think you can get him to leave?"

Steve sighed. "Unless he does something against the security policies, he has a right to be here."

"Fuck," Clint muttered under his breath. "Just do what you can then."

"Will do," Steve said, nodding again as Clint began to walk away.

Clint walked past Fitz on his way back to the bar, and when Fitz made it to the podium up front, there was a beautiful woman standing there.

"Welcome to Shield. How many?"

"Oh, I don't think we're sitting at a table," she said. "I was just wondering if my boyfriend got here before me."

"Name?"

"Grant Ward."

Fitz's heart jumped into his throat. "Grant Ward, did you say?"

"Yes."

Fitz turned and pointed to the bar. "He's at the bar. Let me know if you two want a table."

"Thank you," the woman said, and she walked away from Fitz and over to the bar, wrapping her arms around Ward from behind. "Hello, baby."

"Kara, you made it," Ward said, spinning around on his stool to draw her into a deep embrace, topping it off with an obscene kiss.

At the other end of the bar, Daisy dropped two glasses and they shattered all over the floor. Clint took one look at the kissing couple before noticing one of the bus boys nearby. "Hey, Rumlow? We need clean up behind the bar. Shattered glass."

"Be back with a broom in a second."

By the time Clint turned back to the bar, the woman was seated on Ward's lap and sipping from his glass of bourbon. Taking a deep breath, Clint turned on the friendly bartender act he had perfected over the years. "What can I get for you, miss?"

"I'll have a whiskey sour," Kara said, polishing off Ward's drink. "And another bourbon for him."

"Coming right up," Clint said as Coulson ducked behind him and made his way down to where Daisy was standing in a pool of broken glass.

"You alright, Daisy? It's unlike you to break something."

"As alright as I'm going to be as long as those two are here," Daisy said bitterly, looking down at Ward and Kara. "Kara Palamas. Of all the fucking people in the world that he could have picked to hook up with, he picked Kara fucking Palamas."

Coulson glanced down the bar as a team of busboys surrounded Daisy and started to sweep up the broken glass. "So that's _him_ , huh?"

"Unfortunately," Daisy said, sighing heavily. "He is the reason why I have sworn off love."

"Daisy."

"No, I'm serious. That asshole took everything from me and turned me into the absolute mess I was when I first showed up here. You know what I mean, Coulson. You were there with Stark when he did the bartender test with me."

"The day he nicknamed you Quake," Coulson said. "I'm still not sure he knows the real reason behind why you were shaking that day."

"I'd like to keep it that way," Daisy said. "Kara Palamas. Do you know who Kara Palamas is, Coulson?"

"Can't say that I do, nor do I want to. I just want you to stay focused on your job. Can you do that?"

Daisy nodded. "Yes, I can."

"Good. Now let these boys finish cleaning up and then get back to work."

"Yes, sir."


End file.
